MOSCOW, October 7. /TASS/. Russian gas giant Gazprom is ready to help the state-owned oil major Rosneft with drilling works in the Kara Sea in 2015, Bloomberg reported Tuesday quoting Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev as saying.

In September, Deputy Energy Minister Kirill Molodtsov said Russia has platforms for Arctic shelf drilling, including the Arkticheskaya platform operated by Gazflot, Gazprom’s unit for offshore projects.

In August, Rosneft and US ExxonMobil started drilling the Universitetskaya-1 well in the Kara Sea, but in September, ExxonMobil suspended nine out of 10 projects with Rosneft, including the Universitetskaya-1 well, due to US sanctions.

Rosneft said that drilling will be stopped by October 10 due to environment danger concerns.

According to media reports, the Kara Sea deposits may contain up to 100 billion barrels of oil.

The United States imposed new sanctions against Russia on September 12. These targeted five major Russian energy companies — Gazprom, Gazpromneft, Lukoil, Surgutneftegaz and Rosneft.