Japan’s largest energy explorer has signed a deal with a Russian oil firm to explore oil and gas in the Sea of Okhotsk.

The cooperation agreement between INPEX and Rosneft includes exploring and developing the blocks Magadan 2 and 3 in the Russian waters.

The blocks are located around 50-150km south of Magadan city with the offshore area believed to have “largely unexplored oil and gas potential”. Rosneft claims estimated recoverable resources of the two blocks stand at 1,577 million tonnes of oil equivalent.

Rosneft President Igor Sechin said: “Russian Far East is one of the key regions of Rosneft operation… Partnership between Rosneft and INPEX will contribute significantly not only to the development of the Russian Far East but also to the development of economic relations between Russia and Japan and will strengthen energy security of our partners”.

Once the final agreements are complete, INPEX and Rosneft will establish joint venture companies to carry out exploration works in the blocks.

Earlier this year, Rosneft bought a stake in deepwater exploration blocks in the Gulf of Mexico.