Moscow, 2 April - Neftegaz.RU. Sergey Donskoy, Russia's Natural Resources Minister said on March 30, 2018, that Russia hopes to endorse the deal on the Barents Sea, the former «grey zone».
The offshore zone of an area about 175,000 square km is so-called the grey zone of the Barents Sea as it ended the 40-year-old territorial dispute between the 2 countries.
«To date everything is complete, the signing of the deal is planned this summer at the next intergovernmental commission meeting,» Sergey Donskoy said.
Norway and Russia agreed in 2010 to end their dispute over areas of the Barents Sea and signed a treaty to outline the maritime borders in the Arctic region. Back in 2016, Norway and Russia agreed to exchange seismic data from the areas around the demarcation line in the Barents Sea.
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) estimates that Norway’s part of the Barents Sea holds nearly two thirds of the Nordic nation’s yet-to-be discovered offshore resources.
The exploration licenses on the Russian side of the Barents Sea border are held by Russian oil giant Rosneft, which planned to resume drilling in the area this year.
