Soviets to Open Oil Fields for Ventures With U.S. Firms

Soviet energy officials offered Tuesday to create joint ventures with U.S. companies to exploit vast Soviet reserves of oil and natural gas.

In exchange for their technology and capital, oil companies “could have joint ventures (with the Soviets) operating by this time next year,” said Tom Russell, chairman of Professional Geophysics Inc., the company that coordinated a Houston meeting between Soviet officials and U.S. oil companies.

“The time is right,” Russell said. “The Soviets are anxious to proceed, and so are we. It took (PGI) less than six months to negotiate and form our first joint venture with the Ministry of Oil and Gas Industry and just over six months for a joint venture with another ministry.”

Representatives of 75 to 100 companies met Tuesday with five officials of the Soviet Ministry of Oil and Gas Industry. A similar meeting has been scheduled in London next Tuesday.

“This is the first meeting in which joint ventures in the Soviet Union are offered, but it is by no means the last one,” said Aklim Moukhametzianov, a deputy minister and member of the Soviet parliament.

“Soviet oil companies are not experienced (in joint ventures) and the ruble is not convertible yet; however, all problems can be worked out given the desire from both sides,” he said through an interpreter.

The five territories available for joint ventures include four in the Western Siberian Basin with an estimated 13 billion barrels of oil reserves. The fifth is in the Bashkir region of the Volga-Urals, an area believed to have undiscovered oil and gas far below the surface.