HOUSTON, March 7 (Itar-Tass) - Neftegaz America Shelf, a daughter company of Russia's Rosneft, is acquiring a 30-percent interest in 20 deepwater exploration blocks of Exxon Mobil Corp in the Gulf of Mexico.
The agreement was signed on March 5 by Rosneft president Igor Sechin and Exxon Mobil Corp president Stephen Greenlee in Exxon Mobil's office in Houston, Texas.
Twenty blocks in a total area of some 450 square kilometer are located in a basin with depths from 640 to 2,070 meters. Of those, 17 are in the western part of the Gulf of Mexico, and three in the middle, Rosneft said in a statement released in Houston on Wednesday.
Exxon Mobil Co keeps 70-percent interest in these blocks and remains operator. An analysis of seismic data is underway. There is no production on the blocks at present.
Rosneft gains exploration access to Exxon Mobil blocks in Gulf of Mexico
The agreement was signed on March 5 by Igor Sechin and Stephen Greenlee
Photo ITAR-TASS