http://www.rigzone.com/data/offshore_drilling_rigs/1140/Semisub/North_Atlantic_Drilling_Ltd/West_Alpha.
Rosneft And Exxon Mobil Begin Drilling In Kara Sea Despite Sanctions On Russia
Russian state oil company OAO Rosneft (ROSN.L) and Exxon Mobil Corp joint venture company Karmorneftegaz on Saturday began drilling of Universitetskaya-1, the Russian Federation’s northernmost well using the West Alpha rig.
The start of the drilling was launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a teleconference with head of Rosneft Igor Sechin and head of ExxonMobil Russia Glenn Waller who were both present in the Kara Sea.
“The start of exploratory drilling in the Kara Sea is the most important event of the year for the global oil and gas industry. As a result of this work we are planning to discover a new Kara sea oil province. Developing of the Arctic shelf has a huge multiplicative effect on the whole Russian economy”, said Igor Sechin.
The West Alpha rig was provided by the Norwegian company North Atlantic Drilling which signed long-term agreements with Rosneft on 30 July 2014 for the offshore drilling.
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We did a study for Amoco many moons ago for gas production on the Yamal Peninsula. Prior to that was for Texaco in Timan Pechora (oil) to the west of that. I think both projects were done, but only after Amoco and Texaco bailed due to the political risks.