Norwegian Oil and Energy Minister Odd Roger Eknoksen said Russia continues to ask about gas-supply cooperation between producing countries, just as imports of offshore oilfield equipment to the Russian Arctic are set to receive a boost.

"They know it's not possible for us to take part in something called a gas cartel," Enoksen was quoted as saying.

Norway’s collaboration in a “gas Opec” is said to be ruled out by the export of nearly all its gas by pipeline to Europe on long-term contracts. However, the Nordic country is keen to win exports of its equipment to Russia's Eastern Barents Sea.

Enoksen’s visit to Moscow was reported by newspaper Aftenposten, where Enoksen is in energy talks aimed at “mapping Barents Sea resources”. He met with Gazprom's Alexei Miller, and word on Shtokman from Russian oil company Gazprom is expected in the coming weeks, OilGas24.com learned in Murmansk recently.

Gazprom's “Shtokman declaration” is set to be expanded to include word of supplier participation just as tax shelters are being aired by President Vladimir Putin for Russian companies paying to import foreign equipment to the Russian continental shelf.

A new licensing round — just the second since the Soviet Union’s collapse — is also seen as imminent for the Eastern Barents. It'll be managed this time, as in other oil provinces, with investor and media relations in mind.

“The law on the use of the subsoil is not perfect, and due to its inconsistencies, there has not been a second licensing round for exploration in the Barents Sea since 1999,” a Russian oil company official complained at a recent Murmansk press conference.

“The feeling is that the government is not willing to spend its own money prospecting for natural resources, and private companies are afraid of risks, so they’re not investing either. Therefor surveyors have no work to do.”

ws@oilgas24.com