UPDATE: BP, Exxon To Explore For Oil, Gas In Offshore Arctic -Imperial
July 30 2010 - 6:45PM
Dow Jones News
BP PLC (BP, BP.LN), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Imperial Oil
Ltd. (IMO)--Exxon's separately traded Canadian subsidiary-- formed
a joint venture to explore for oil and gas in Canada's Beaufort
Sea, an Imperial Oil spokesman said Friday.
The partners have been working on a deal to share the costs and
profits of exploration in the Canadian Arctic since last year,
before the disastrous spill from a BP-leased rig in the Gulf of
Mexico, Imperial spokesman Pius Rolheiser said.
The two exploration areas, BP's Pokak and Exxon's Ajurak leases,
are located between 75 and 90 miles off Canada's north shore,
directly north of the city of Inuvick in the Northwest Territories.
The drilling leases are located in waters between 200 feet and
4,000 feet deep.
Canada's National Energy Board is conducting a review of
offshore drilling operations as a result of the BP spill in the
Gulf of Mexico. Imperial Oil will participate in the review, and
the joint-venture partners will need regulatory approval before
going ahead with their Arctic drilling plans, Rolheiser said.
Exxon and Imperial acquired the Ajurak lease for nearly $600
million in 2007, and BP acquired the Pokak lease as part of a
package of other Arctic assets in 2008. Both companies have
conducted 3D seismic surveys, but haven't done any exploratory
drilling of the sites yet. The news was reported earlier by
Reuters.
Exxon and Imperial will each hold a 25% share in the joint
venture and will be in charge of the operations; BP will hold the
remaining 50% share. The news was reported earlier by Reuters.
Rolheiser said the joint venture is completely unrelated to BP
and Exxon's operations in the Alaskan Arctic, and their agreement
on the Beaufort doesn't mean they are any closer to reaching an
agreement over their separate support for competing natural-gas
pipeline projects in Alaska.
Representatives of BP and Exxon weren't immediately available to
comment.
-By Edward Welsch, Dow Jones Newswires; 403-229-9095;
edward.welsch@dowjones.com
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