Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
MOSCOW
by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk plans to spend around $1 billion a year on oil exploration in the coming years and is considering participation in offshore oil service projects in Russia's Arctic region, the company's chief executive, Nils S. Andersen, said.
"We would be interested in entering the oil service sector in Russia," S. Andersen told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with the Maersk CEO in April at the company's headquarters in Copenhagen during an official visit to Denmark.
Maersk, whose oil reserves are declining in the North Sea, is actively seeking to increase oil reserves in the North Sea, Angola, Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico. The company could also be interested in joining Russian oil and gas projects, not only as a service contractor, but possibly as a partner in upstream projects.
"I won't exclude there are possibilities of joining upstream projects in Russia," S. Andersen said. "There are a number of international players over here. The possibilities are huge, but at the moment we have no concrete plans."
Russian state oil producer Rosneft is seeking to unlock vast energy reserves in its Arctic waters. Earlier this month, Rosneft's chief executive, Eduard Khudainatov, mentioned Maersk Oil alongside Norway's Statoil as possible partners in the Arctic.
Maersk has invested $1 billion a year in exploration activities in the last three years and plans to keep spending around that level, S. Andersen said.
During Putin's visit, investments in Russian ports were discussed.
"We are looking at investing in port terminals in Russia," S. Andersen said. "Our primary interest is in the gateways in the Gulf of Finland, the Black Sea and Russia's Far East.
Maersk, the biggest shipping company to and from Russia, owns a strip of land in the Kaliningrad port area on the Baltic Sea.
"We also have an option in Kaliningrad, but whether or not we will make use of it will depend on market developments," he said.
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