Rosneft, Exxon (NYSE:XOM) Arctic Well Strikes Oil

Live Trading News ^ | Sep 28, 2014 | Paul Ebeling

[GonzoII]

Russia has discovered what may prove to be a vast deposit of Crude Oil in 1 of the world’s most remote places with the help of America’s largest energy company, Exxon (NYSE:XOM).

Russia’s state-run OAO Rosneft (PINK:RNFTF) said a well drilled in the Kara Sea region of the Arctic Ocean with Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) struck oil, showing the region has the potential to become one of the world’s most important crude-producing areas.

The announcement was made by Rosneft’s CEO Igor Sechin, who spent 2 days sailing on a Russian research ship to the drilling rig where the find was unveiled Saturday. The well found about 1-B bbls of Crude Oil and similar geology nearby means the surrounding area may hold more than the US part of the Gulf or Mexico, he said.

“It exceeded our expectations,” Mr. Sechin said in an interview. This discovery is of “exceptional significance in showing the presence of hydrocarbons in the Arctic.”

The discovery heightens the dispute between Russia and the US over President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine.

The well was drilled before the 10 October deadline Exxon was granted by the US government under sanctions barring American companies from working in Russia’s Arctic offshore.

[GonzoII]

To Russia with love I guess.

[SeeSharp]

So Barack has simply gifted Exxon’s share of that oil field to Putin. Boy! That’s a tough sanctions regime.

[spokeshave]

And this from January 2014:

Obama’s State Department is giving away seven strategic, resource-laden Alaskan islands to the Russians. Yes, to the Putin regime in the Kremlin.

The seven endangered islands in the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea include one the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined. The Russians are also to get the tens of thousands of square miles of oil-rich seabeds surrounding the islands. The Department of Interior estimates billions of barrels of oil are at stake.

The State Department has undertaken the giveaway in the guise of a maritime boundary agreement between Alaska and Siberia. Astoundingly, our federal government itself drew the line to put these seven Alaskan islands on the Russian side. But as an executive agreement, it could be reversed with the stroke of a pen by President Obama or Secretary Clinton.

The agreement was negotiated in total secrecy. The state of Alaska was not allowed to participate in the negotiations, nor was the public given any opportunity for comment. This is despite the fact the Alaska Legislature has passed resolutions of opposition – but the State Department doesn’t seem to care.

The imperiled Arctic Ocean islands include Wrangel, Bennett, Jeannette and Henrietta. Wrangel became American in 1881 with the landing of the U.S. Revenue Marine ship Thomas Corwin. The landing party included the famed naturalist John Muir. It is 3,000 square miles in size.

Northwest of Wrangel are the DeLong Islands, named for George Washington DeLong, the captain of USS Jeannette. Also in 1881, he discovered and claimed these three islands for the United States. He named them for the voyage co-sponsor, New York City newspaper publisher James Gordon Bennett. The ship’s crew received a hero’s welcome back in Washington, and Congress awarded them gold medals.

In the Bering Sea at the far west end of the Aleutian chain are Copper Island, Sea Lion Rock and Sea Otter Rock. They were ceded to the U.S. in Seward’s 1867 treaty with Russia

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2012/02/obamas-giveaway-oil-rich-islands-to-russia/#Rk30kcS7gYx4fPF9.99

[PIF]

At the end of the article, they state that the oil may be to expensive to produce because of the extreme conditions in the Kara Sea. So it may well amount to nothing.

[X-spurt]

Regardless of who drew the line, these islands sure don’t look much like “Alaskan”. The line on this map looks pretty much positive for USA and it covers the islands most would think were Alaskan.

[thackney]

That is a old myth, refuted many, many times here on Free Republic.

Will this explanation from the State Department, written in 2003 help you believe it is a myth?

Status of Wrangel and Other Arctic Islands
http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/eur/rls/fs/20922.htm

No negotiations regarding the U.S.-Russia maritime boundary have occurred since 1990, when the U.S.-USSR Maritime Boundary Agreement was signed. The negotiations that led to that agreement did not address the status of Wrangel Island, Herald Island, Bennett Island, Jeannette Island, or Henrietta Island, all of which lie off Russia's Arctic coast, or Mednyy (Copper) Island or rocks off the coast of Mednyy Island in the Bering Sea. None of the islands or rocks above were included in the U.S. purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, and they have never been claimed by the United States, although Americans were involved in the discovery and exploration of some of them.

The U.S.-USSR Maritime Boundary Agreement, signed by the United States and the Soviet Union on June 1, 1990, defines our maritime boundary in the Arctic Ocean, Bering Sea, and northern Pacific Ocean. The U.S.-USSR Maritime Boundary Agreement is a treaty that requires ratification by both parties before it formally enters into force. The treaty was made public at the time of its signing. In a separate exchange of diplomatic notes, the two countries agreed to apply the agreement provisionally. The United States Senate gave its advice and consent to ratification of the U.S.-USSR Maritime Boundary Agreement on September 16, 1991.

The Russian Federation informed the United States Government by diplomatic note dated January 13, 1992, that it “continues to perform the rights and fulfill the obligations flowing from the international agreements” signed by the Soviet Union. The United States and the Russian Federation, which is considered to be the sole successor state to the treaty rights and obligations of the former Soviet Union for the purposes of the U.S.-USSR Maritime Boundary Agreement, are applying the treaty on a provisional basis, pending its ratification by the Russian Federation.

The United States regularly holds discussions with Russia on Bering Sea issues, but these discussions do not affect the placement of the U.S.-Russia boundary or the jurisdiction over any territory or the sovereignty of any territory. The U.S. has no intention of reopening discussion of the 1990 Maritime Boundary Treaty.