MOSCOW, May 22 (Reuters) - Spain's Repsol has
pulled out of a planned joint venture to develop two Arctic oil
blocks with Russia's Gazprom Neft and Royal Dutch
Shell, a spokesman at Repsol said on Friday.
Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian gas giant Gazprom
, Repsol and Shell signed a memorandum of understanding
last June on establishing a joint venture to develop the
Leskinsky and Pukhutsyayakhsky blocks on the Gydan Peninsula in
northern Siberia.
A deal on the venture, in which Gazprom Neft would hold a
50% stake and Repsol and Shell each own 25%, was expected to
close this year.
"Its an option we had on a well we are choosing not to
exercise," Repsol's spokesman said.
A source at Gazprom Neft said the Russian company will
continue to cooperate with Shell on the assets.
"Repsol has informed Gazprom Neft that at the moment, it
does not consider a possibility of participation in the
project," the source said.
Gazprom Neft declined to comment.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Isla Binnie; Editing by
Susan Fenton)
