North Korea and Tatarstan are poised to cooperate on exploring a petroleum gas reservoir in the near future, Voice of Russia (VOR) reported on Tuesday.

The plan was revealed during a briefing when the Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov visited Pyongyang March 21-22.

Since North Korea possesses energy resources and Tatarstan has experience exploring reservoirs, North Korea will likely adopt Tatarstan’s special skills in exploring reservoirs, VOR reported.

London-based oil and gas exploration and production company Aminex PLC previously pursed exploring and developing petroleum gas in North Korea in 2004. The company withdrew its plan in 2012, however, citing North Korea’s unstable