A consortium of domestic oil and gas firms, led by ONGC Videsh, is looking at an offer to buy a stake in Russian national oil company Rosneft OJSC.

“Russia is looking to divest some stake in Rosneft. Our companies are looking into the offer and considering whether they can take some of that equity,” said Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, on Thursday, adding that discussions are being led by ONGC Videsh for now, though others may join in later.

Russia looking for capital The Russian government is looking to sell 19.5 per cent in Rosneft and, according to international media reports, is looking to raise $11 billion from the sale.

Igor Sechin, Chief Executive Officer of Rosneft, had told the Russian media on Wednesday that the company’s value ranges between $55 billion and $130 billion, depending on the market situation.

Gazprom project Pradhan, who visited Moscow earlier this month, said public sector oil and gas companies were also evaluating an investment in Gazprom’s Yamal megaproject. “We are planning to invest in the Yamal project and see whether we can get equity natural gas. We have also started discussions on a natural gas pipeline from Russia to India. A joint working group has already met and the route of the pipeline has been discussed,” he said.

According to the Gazprom website, the Yamal project comprises 11 gas and 15 oil, gas and condensate fields with approximately 16 trillion cubic metre of explored and preliminary estimated gas reserves, and nearly 22 trillion cubic metre of in-place and forecast gas reserves.

Reserves of condensate are estimated to be 230.7 million tonne and those of oil at 291.8 million tonne.

comment COMMENT NOW