俄油將與挪威Statoil在北極鑽井

Rosneft is about to start drilling its first oil well in Norway with the help of Norwegian state-owned Statoil despite Russia’s oil industry being subject to extensive European sanctions.

俄羅斯石油公司(Rosneft,簡稱俄油)即將在挪威國有的挪威國家石油公司(Statoil)的幫助下，在挪威境內開鑽第一口油井，儘管俄羅斯石油業正受到歐洲的廣泛制裁。

The well in the Barents Sea, inside the Arctic Circle, is in one of the four fields in which Rosneft won a 20 per cent stake in the Norwegian licensing round last year.

這口位於北極圈內白令海上的油井，是俄油去年在挪威的許可招標中競得20%股權的四口油井之一。

It marks the latest foreign co-operation with Rosneft, showing the limits of the sanctions, which apply only to future contracts and partnerships.

這是俄油與外國公司合作的最新案例，表明西方對俄製裁的侷限——制裁只適用於未來的合約和合作關係。

ExxonMobil this summer will start drilling in Russia’s Arctic as part of a joint venture with Rosneft. The drilling rig for that well in the Kara Sea will be provided by SeaDrill, the world’s biggest offshore drilling company, which is controlled by Norway’s richest man.

埃克森美孚(ExxonMobil)已與俄油成立了合資企業，今夏將在俄羅斯的北極地區進行鑽井作業。在喀拉海油井作業的鑽機，將由挪威首富旗下的全球最大海上鑽井公司SeaDrill提供。

Statoil and Italy’s Eni have also signed partnerships with Rosneft to help search for the vast energy resources thought to exist in Russia’s remote Arctic areas.

挪威國家石油公司和意大利的埃尼(Eni)也與俄油建立了合作關係，幫其勘探據認爲蘊藏在俄羅斯遙遠的北極地區的巨量能源資源。

But the partnerships have been controversial not just because of the western sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, which affect both Rosneft and its chief executive Igor Sechin. Environmental groups such as World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace believe the risk of an oil spill in the Arctic is too great to justify drilling there.

但是，這些合作一直存在着爭議，原因不僅在於西方出於俄烏局勢考慮對俄實施了制裁，制裁既影響俄油，也影響其首席執行官伊戈爾•謝欽(Igor Sechin)。世界自然基金會(World Wildlife Fund)和綠色和平組織(Greenpeace)等環保團體也認爲，北極地區發生石油泄漏的風險太大，不應在那裏進行鑽井作業。