US, Russian, Oil Majors Sign Arctic Shelf Protection Declaration

ExxonMobil & Rosneft sign 'Declaration on Protection of the Environment & Biodiversity for Oil and Gas Exploration & Development on Russian Arctic Continental Shelf'.

The declaration was signed during a meeting between Igor Sechin, president and chairman of the management board of Rosneft, and Rex W. Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation, and senior managers from both organizations.

The declaration sets out measures to help protect the Arctic’s ecosystems during oil and gas exploration and development activities to be undertaken by Rosneft and its partners.

The parties have agreed to form a joint working group to consider establishing a coordination center that may include representatives of Roskosmos, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters. The coordination center would coordinate activities to protect biodiversity including observing principles and recommendations of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the standards set by IPIECA, the global oil and gas industry association for environmental and social issues.