Russia and Norway Agree to Share Seismic Data from Barents Sea

On 25 October 2018, Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy and his Russian colleague signed an agreement on mutual rights to seismic acquisition in the Barents Sea.

Both countries are in the process of mapping the resources on their respective side of the delimitation line in the Barents Sea. The Agreement is a natural follow-up of the signing of the Delimitation Agreement in September 2010 and will allow both countries to map the resource potential up to and along the delimitation line, says Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Mr. Kjell-Børge Freiberg (FrP).

The new Agreement will entail a right for seismic vessels from both Parties to cross the delimitation line and use their seismic equipment within a distance of 5 km on the continental shelf of the other Party. Such data are important in case of a discovery of oil and gas extending across the delimitation line. According to the Delimitation Agreement of 2010, such discoveries shall be subject to unitization.