The Yermak Neftegaz joint venture between Russia’s Rosneft and UK supermajor BP has won 25-year exploration and development licences for two remote blocks in the Taymyr Dolgano-Nenets district in the vast Krasnoyarsk region, according to Russia’s Natural Resources & Environment Minister Sergey Donskoy.

Yermak has committed to pay a total of 2 billion rubles ($31.7 million) for the Posoysky and Upper Kubinsky blocks, with the venture’s bid beating competing offers from Surgutneftegaz and Bashneft and Gazprom subsidiary Northgaz.