Rosneft and BP have teamed up in pursuit of hydrocarbon resources in East and West Siberia.

In a news release, the companies said they have signed agreements to create a joint venture (JV) to explore in the West Siberian and Yenisey-Khatanga basins in the Russian Federation.

Called Yermak Neftegaz LLC, the JV will focus on onshore exploration of two areas of mutual interest (AMIs) in the two basins covering a combined area of about 260,000 sq km, according to the release. Yermak Neftegaz will be owned 51% by Rosneft and 49% by BP.

Initially, the JV will carry out additional appraisal work on the 2009 Rosneft-discovered Baikalovskiy Field inside the Yenisey-Khatanga AMI and on exploration of Zapadno-Yarudeiskoye, Kheiginskoye and Anomalnoye licenses in the West Siberian AMI.

Exploration activities in the two AMIs will include regional research, acquisition of seismic data and drilling of exploration wells, with the beginning of field works anticipated in the winter season of 2016-2017, the release said. The preliminary agreement relating to this project was signed at SPIEF in 2015.

BP has committed to provide up to $300 million in two phases as its contribution to the cost of the JV’s activities at the exploration stage, the release said. Rosneft will contribute licenses and operational experience in West Siberia and Yenisey-Khatanga with initial drilling to be performed by Rosneft subsidiaries.