Rosneft agrees Arctic deal with Statoil Russia has struck its third groundbreaking exploration deal with a western oil major in as many weeks, as state oil group Rosneft announced it would partner with Norway's Statoil to drill in the hydrocarbon-rich waters of the Russian Arctic. The deals are a big win for the Russian government, which needs foreign investment and expertise to unlock the country's vast offshore resources and maintain its status as the world's largest oil producer, amid declining output in the mature heartlands of western Siberia. The Rosneft agreement is also significant for Statoil, giving it access to some of the largest untapped energy resources on the planet. "We have been looking for exploration opportunities in Russia for two decades, so this is a milestone," said Helge Lund, Statoil's chief executive, in an interview. It gives us a much broader business base than we had before. The agreement, which follows similar deals with ExxonMobil and Eni of Italy, was signed on Saturday in the presence of Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin - two days before he is due to be inaugurated as president - and Igor Sechin, Russia's deputy prime minister in charge of the energy sector, a powerful Putin ally. It is likely to boost the status of Mr Sechin, Rosneft's former chairman, who was the main architect of the three deals. It is still unclear what role Mr Sechin will play in the Russian government once his rival Dmitry Medvedev, the current president, becomes prime minister. The deal also notches up another success in the Kremlin strategy of integrating Rosneft into the global energy industry. As part of their new partnership, Rosneft will team up with Statoil to look for oil in the Norwegian part of the Barents Sea and also acquire stakes in some of the Norwegian company's international projects. Under the deal, Rosneft and Statoil will jointly explore in the Perseevsky block in the Russian sector of the Barents Sea and in three licence areas - Kashevarovsky, Lisyansky and Magadan-1 - in the Sea of Okhotsk, in Russia's far east. The four licences cover an area of more than 100,000 square kilometres. Rosneft estimates the four fields" total prospective recoverable resources at 2bn tonnes of oil - nearly 15bn barrels - and 1.8tn cubic metres of natural gas. Brazil's proven oil reserves stand at 14.2bn barrels. Statoil will be a minority partner with Rosneft, owning a 33.3 per cent stake in the joint venture that will explore the four blocks and will cover all the exploration costs. The deals with ENI and Exxon had similar terms. Statoil will also apply its expertise in developing unconventional oil and gas resources in the US, Norway and Brazil to help Rosneft extract heavy oil in Siberia and shale oil in Stavropol, in southern Russia. Statoil is a partner in a major Russian energy project, the Gazprom-led Shtokman gasfield in the Barents Sea, in which Total of France is also a shareholder. The multibillion-dollar development has been repeatedly delayed by uncertainties over Russia's tax regime and over future European and US gas demand. The path for the pacts with Statoil, Exxon and Eni was smoothed by recent changes to Russia's tax regime that had long been sought by the oil industry. In Mr Putin's last days as prime minister he proposed lifting onerous export duties from offshore projects for 15 years after the start of industrial-scale production. Mr Lund said the change was decisive. "They understand precisely what it takes to incentivise foreign capital and technology, both for offshore and unconventional onshore projects," he said.