ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TAS /. Rosneft and BP decided on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2016) to establish joint venture Ermak for geological exploration in Western Siberia and Yenisey-Khatanga Basin.

The companies concluded a corresponding agreement, signed by Rosneft Head Igor Sechin and BP President David Campbell.

The joint venture will be engaged in exploration in two areas of mutual interest - in Western Siberia and Yenisey-Khatanga Basin, total area of 260,000 square km. Partner shares in JV Ermak are as follows - Rosneft - 51%, BP - 49%, according to the agreement.

In the initial stage, the joint venture will carry out further appraisal work on the 2009 Rosneft-discovered Baikalovskiy field inside the Yenisey-Khatanga AMI and on exploration of Zapadno-Yarudeiskoye, Kheiginskoye and Anomalnoye licenses in the West Siberian AMI.

Exploration activities in the two AMIs will include regional research, acquisition of seismic data and drilling of exploration wells, with the beginning of field works anticipated in the winter season of 2016/2017.

Igor Sechin, Rosneft CEO, said after signing: "These agreements serve as an example of full scale cooperation with BP, Rosneft’s strategic partner and largest minority shareholder. After creation of the Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha LLC joint venture we are now broadening the geography of our cooperation and creating a precedent which allows us to pursue cooperation in partnership with leading international companies to implement upstream projects at the largest Rosneft greenfield sites in West and East Siberia."

David Campbell, President BP Russia, said: "This agreement and creation of a new joint venture reinforces BP’s commitment to our strategic investment in Russia and our long term partnership with Rosneft. In the current low oil price environment we continue to look for opportunities for future growth."

BP has committed to provide up to $300 mln in two phases as its contribution to the cost of the JV’s activities at the exploration stage. Rosneft will contribute licenses and operational experience in West Siberia and Yenisey-Khatanga with initial drilling to be performed by Rosneft subsidiaries.