FOR RELEASE:  June 23, 1994             CONTACT:   John Barclay
                                                 (202) 208-5890


          MMS, RUSSIAN SCIENCE AGENCY TO POOL RESOURCES
     IN REGULATING OFFSHORE OIL, GAS AND MINERAL DEVELOPMENT
(#40043)


     Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt has signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to foster cooperation in
regulating exploration for and development of offshore oil, gas and
mineral resources with officials of a counterpart agency in Russia.

     The agreement between the Interior Department's Minerals
Management Service (MMS) and the Committee of the Russian
Federation on Geology and the Use of Underground Resources
(ROSKOMNEDRA) was signed June 23.

     "MMS and ROSKOMNEDRA have developed working relationships on
several levels since the mid-1980s," said MMS Director Tom Fry.
"This agreement formalizes that relationship, and will help both
agencies carry out their respective scientific and technological
missions."

     MMS is the federal agency that manages and regulates the
nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the Outer
Continental Shelf, and collects and disburses royalties from
offshore mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on Federal
and Indian lands.

                              -MMS-

Subject: PR-06/23/94 ROSKOMNEDRA/MMS, Russian Science Agency to
Pool Resources in Regulating Offshore Oil, Gas and Mineral
Development (#40043)