V.Putin does not exclude that Rosneft will find variants of cooperation with Shell or BP at the Arctic Shelf

The Prime Minster of the Russian Federation V.Putin does not exclude that Rosneft will find variants of cooperation with BP at the Arctic shelf. He also does not also exclude cooperation with Shell on this question. Answering the question if Shell could replace BP at the Arctic shelf he noted: “We have worked with Shell for a long time. It is a comfortable partnership. But we have not finished working with BP too. There can be different variants. It is not so important for us in the government which company will operate at this or that project. The main thing is that the terms of the agreements meet the interests of Russia.”

Rosneft reported that on May 24, 2011, the company is negotiating with Shell on the possible participation of the company in the Arctic Shelf/Kara Sea projects of Russia, but the alliance with BP on the development of them is still a major priority for the company. A representative of Rosneft said that the company anticipates early solution to the arbitration proceedings. What is more, both specialists and investors understand the scale of the Arctic resource base. Rosneft has received proposals on possible joint operations in the ArcticShelf/Kara Sea from a number of world leading energy companies over the last three months.

In January 2011, Rosneft and BP concluded a number of agreements on strategic cooperation and a shares exchange. In particular, the parties announced on the conclusion of a strategic alliance on the development of Artic Shelf/Kara Sea deposits. The companies have also agreed on the exchange of shares. Rosneft will get 5% of shares of BP, while the British company will get 9.5% of shares of Rosneft and have 10.8% in the company later.

However, the AAR consortium, the partner of the British company on a JV in Russia TNK-BP thinks that BP violates a shareholder agreement and initiated a court case, which caused the suspension of the deal. The parties could not come to a conclusion on the participation of TNK-BP in any alliance. On May 16, 2011 the term expired. BP and Rosneft were to conclude agreement on the share exchange before this term.

http://www.rosinvest.com/news/821378/

Translated by Iraida Idiyatova