Rosneft, Gazprom tasked for arctic energy exploration

Russian energy companies should join forces for exploration in the arctic as part of a strategy to counter Western sanctions, a Kremlin official said Thursday.

U.S. energy company Exxon Mobil has a partnership with Russian oil company Rosneft for work in the arctic waters of Russia. With Western sanctions impeding developments, the Russian government has placed a greater emphasis on domestic exploitation of arctic reserves.

"Where the Arctic is concerned, we will probably grant the last licenses on the arctic shelf [exploration] to Rosneft and Gazprom," Orest Kasparov, deputy director of the Russian Federal Agency for Subsoil Use said.

Western governments blacklisted Rosneft and other Russian energy companies in response to the Kremlin's stance on the separatist campaign in eastern Ukraine. In mid-September, the European Union took additional steps by barring Russian oil company Rosneft and its counterparts Transneft and Gazprom Neft from working in European capital markets.

Sanctions have hit a Russian economy that depends heavily on oil export revenue. The Russian Central Bank said inflation was expected to rise above 8 percent this year.