Scientific centres to explore Arctic shelf to be built in

Petersburg

Novo-Ogarevo, Jan 15 (Itar-Tass) The Russian governmentwelcomes the creation of special scientific centres to exploreenergy resources for joint development of shelf deposits inthe Arctic by BP and Rosneft, Russian Prime Minister VladimirPutin said at a meeting with the leadership of the companyBritish Petroleum (BP).

As BP chief executive director Robert Dadley said,Russia''s Arctic shelf has a great potential and whiledeveloping this region, it is necessary to use the latesttechnologies. According to him, the construction of centresfor the shelf''s exploration in St Petersburg and Murmansk isanother stage of cooperation with Russia.

The BP head recalled that his company has been workingwith Russia for a long time. BP has been a partner of Rosneftfor many years already and the two companies'' cooperation, asDadley stressed, will be continued while implementing newprojects.

Dadley expressed the hope that cooperation between BP andRosneft on Russia''s Arctic shelf will favourably tell on theinvestment climate and inflow of foreign investments toRussia. He hopes that cooperation between BP and Rosneft willbe a powerful impetus for cooperation with Russia in the fieldof investments.(Itar-Tass)