Russian state oil firm Rosneft (ROSN.MM) and U.S. Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) will sign a wide-ranging strategic partnership later on Monday at Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's residence, Reuters reports quoting sources familiar with the matter.
Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson was expected to attend the event, which will be held at Putin's Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow and has been scheduled for 8 a.m. Eastern Time, one of the sources said.
The deal will grant Rosneft access to projects in North America where Exxon is developing hard-to-recover oil reserves in West Texas, the Canadian province of Alberta and in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, industry sources told Reuters last week.
The two companies will also seek to transfer know-how from those projects to develop Rosneft's own vast reserves of so-called 'tight' oil - held in non-porous rock - in Western Siberia.
Exxon, the largest listed oil company in the world, struck an initial partnership with Rosneft last August to search for oil in three blocks of Russia's Arctic Kara Sea estimated to hold 36 billion barrels of oil.
Finalizing that initial deal was contingent on Russia introducing an offshore tax regime that would make it economically viable for oil companies to shoulder the huge up-front costs of offshore exploration.
Putin last Thursday came out in support of a reformed tax regime that would eliminate export duties and slash rates of Mineral Extraction Tax, clearing the way for Monday's expected announcement.
Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson was expected to attend the event, which will be held at Putin's Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow and has been scheduled for 8 a.m. Eastern Time, one of the sources said.
The deal will grant Rosneft access to projects in North America where Exxon is developing hard-to-recover oil reserves in West Texas, the Canadian province of Alberta and in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, industry sources told Reuters last week.
The two companies will also seek to transfer know-how from those projects to develop Rosneft's own vast reserves of so-called 'tight' oil - held in non-porous rock - in Western Siberia.
Exxon, the largest listed oil company in the world, struck an initial partnership with Rosneft last August to search for oil in three blocks of Russia's Arctic Kara Sea estimated to hold 36 billion barrels of oil.
Finalizing that initial deal was contingent on Russia introducing an offshore tax regime that would make it economically viable for oil companies to shoulder the huge up-front costs of offshore exploration.
Putin last Thursday came out in support of a reformed tax regime that would eliminate export duties and slash rates of Mineral Extraction Tax, clearing the way for Monday's expected announcement.