Rosneft, the largest Russian petroleum company, will create an industrial park in the Murmansk region to support shelf exploration and oil and gas production, the region's press service reported. Company management and regional authorities signed a document to this effect at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The document also provides for establishing a coastal base in the Murmansk region for Arctic shelf projects and supporting production, as well as developing the region's scientific and personnel potential to provide for a skilled labor force for Arctic oil and gas projects.

"The establishment of a coastal support base amounts to the creation of a new high-tech industrial sector in the Murmansk region, related to achieving one of the most important national goals: the development of the Arctic and its hydrocarbon resources," Murmansk Governor Marina Kovtun said.

The document also provided a framework for an agreement to train specialists at local educational establishments, as well as Rosneft's participation in developing the regional Center of Arctic Competences and the establishment in the Murmansk region of a branch of the Arctic Research and Design Center for Offshore Developments.