Do you remember that Putin-blessed BP deal with Russia's government Rosneft? Well, the deal did not happen, however... Vladimir Putin said today that Shell may become a Rosneft's partner on the same conditions as BP was expected to. Netherland British Shell will most likely become Rosneft's partner in the Arctic, which will put Russia even further ahead of Canada and other nations claiming the vast Northern oil reserves.

Vladimir Putin commented that "Shell is a comfortable partner for us. It doesn't matter who the foreign partner is, as long as the conditions of the cooperation are in line with Russia's national interests." Shell is already involved in the famous projects Sakhalin-2 and Sakhalin-3. If the Shell-Rosneft deal takes place, the new venture will be split with 67% Russian ownership and 33% Shell ownership. The newly formed company will explore oil in the Arctic. A consortium of Russia's high-level politicians lead by Putin blessed the strategy explaining it by hundreds of fancy words. However, the reality is that while Russia has the money and the military might to claim the Arctic, it does not have the technology. Everybody else does, that's why it doesn't matter to Putin whether it will be Shell or BP. May be American-based oil companies should take a note of the situation.