"The most optimistic time frame for the development is 12-15 years away," Trutnev told reporters after Russia and Norway in Murmansk signed a historic agreement on the maritime boundary in the Barents Sea after 40 years of talks.
"Once [the agreement] is made law, there would be exploration and geological studies for around 7-10 years before the development of reserves can begin," he said, as reported by Russia's news agency RIA Novosti.
When asked to comment on a statement by a Norwegian official that Norway had secured the most "delicious" blocks, Trutnev said: "It's not necessary nor correct to discus where the most interesting fields are at the moment."
Up to now, there had been only initial studies based on gravity satellite imagery, the minister said.
"Now we will begin work in this area and then we'll get the answer as to who has more fields, who is to produce more oil, and so on. I think the prospects are very good for both sides," Trutnev said.
The minister also noted that there were up to 10 structures identified in the area, which could be of large- or even giant-scale. The report did not give details of the locations.
Norwegian media widely quoted the country's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as saying his government was in no hurry to start exploration.
He did not say when mapping and future exploration of oil and gas could start.
"I understand why you ask that, but I don't want to answer that now. Not until the agreement has been finally approved [by Norway and Russia parliaments]," Stoltenberg was quoted as saying by Norwegian national wire service NTB.
But analysts have said the country was "in a big hurry" to extract gas and oil from below the Barents Sea because public opinion had swung against exploration of other major potential rival reserves, near the Lofoten Islands offshore Norway, following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of
Mexico.
"I think this signing today is significant in the context of Norway's declining crude reserves and the controversy surrounding the other main resource area there, the Lofoten and Vesteralen region off the Norwegian coast," said Bjorn Brunstad of Nordic economic consultancy Econ Poyry.
STATOIL IS 'PRIMARY' PARTNER
Trutnev said Norway's Statoil would be the primary partner for Russia in development of the Barents Sea fields.
The agreement signed by Russia and Norway states that any cross-border structure would have to be developed jointly, Trutnev said.
"That's why [state-run] Statoil is our partner by definition. Regarding other companies, that would be an issue of [future] talks," Trutnev said.
Separately, the Minister said Russia needed foreign partners for the development of large projects such as the giant Shtokman gas field and Prirazlomnoye oil field, both in the Russian sector of the Barents Sea.
"Unfortunately, our offshore projects development is taking too long... That is why we should not [develop] them on our own, they should be developed using the experience available [on the global market]," Trutnev was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.
France's Total and Norway's Statoil are already partners in Gazprom's Shtokman project, whose startup has recently been postponed by three years to 2016 for the first pipeline gas and 2017 for first LNG cargoes.
Shtokman is one of the world's biggest undeveloped gas fields, with estimated reserves of 3.8 trillion cu m.
Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Gazprom, is developing the Prirazlomnoye project independently for now, although the company's officials in 2008 did not exclude the possibility of inviting foreign partners to the project.
Gazprom Neft expects to drill the first production well at the field in April 2011.
Prirazlomnoye is expected to produce 80,000 mt/year in 2011 with peak production, estimated to be around 7 million mt/year, to be achieved 6-7 years later.
China Chemical Weekly: http://news.chemnet.com/en/detail-1411716.html
