Russian energy and oil giant, Rosneft, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking “mutually beneficial cooperation”, which includes strategic partnerships and tie-ups with Indian companies for the development of ultra-high grade anthracite coal blocks in the Gorlovka Basin Bogatyr of Russia.

The Steel Ministry has been requested by the Ministry of Petroleum – to whom the letter was forwarded – to “take necessary action” on the proposal.

Also read: Russia equipped to meet India’s rising crude oil demand: Rosneft CEO

Anthracite coal is a key raw material in steel manufacture. Russia is also among the top five suppliers of coking coal – another key ingredient.

India, the second largest producer of crude steel, is also the world’s largest importer of coking coal, including pulverised coal injection and anthracite. Coking coal imports rose by 130 per cent YoY to 2.64 million tonnes (mt) in the April–February period. Supplies in the same period last year stood at 1.15 mt.

The letter by Igor Sechin, CEO of Rosneft, which has been reviewed by businessline, states that Russia has launched development of the world’s largest deposit, Gorlovka Basin Bogatye in the Novorbisrk region with a resource base of about 5 billion tonnes of metallurgical coal – anthracite of ultra high-grade quality.

The deposit holds about 30 per cent of the world’s reserves of this high-quality anthracite – which has a carbon content of 94 per cent, volatile fractions of 2.5 per cent, and “a low proportion of impurities”.

Production at the field is scheduled to commence in Q4 of 2023 (October–December), and anthracite production is expected to reach 10 mt per year by 2025 (in two years). This will be followed up with an increase in production volume of up to 30 mt by 2030.

“Dear Prime Minister, in consideration of the foregoing, I am approaching you with the request to consider the possibility of forging a partnership between Russian and Indian companies for the supply of ultra high-quality anthracite and other forms of strategic partnership for development of such project as aforesaid on a long-term mutually beneficial basis,” the letter said,

Also read: Some banks stop credit for oil imports by Rosneft-owned refiner Nayara

The letter adds that an “important task” is to “unlock the full potential of the two countries by intensifying cooperation at the corporate level” and implement joint projects with the participation of Russian and Indian companies.

“The partnership between Russia and India, primarily in the energy sector, is a vivid example of long-term mutually beneficial cooperation between the leading powers,” Sechin’s letter said.

Partnerships in Energy Sector

Rosneft has been actively developing an integrated format for cooperation with Indian partners in the energy sector - from extraction to refining and oil product sales.

Indian companies, including ONGC Videsh Ltd, Oil India Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroresources, have been owners of 49.9 per cent of Rosneft’s subsidiary JSC Vankorneft since 2016. This company is located in Krasnoyarsk Territory and develops the Vankorskoye oil and gas condensate field, one of the biggest fields discovered and brought on stream over the last 25 years in Russia.

A consortium of Indian companies (Oil India Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroresources) also owns 29.9 per cent of Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha, which develops the Central Block and the Kurungsky licence block of the Srednebotuobinskoye field, which is among Rosneft’s largest assets in Eastern Siberia.

Recently, Rosneft Oil Company and Indian Oil Company signed a term agreement to substantially increase oil supplies and also diversify the grades to India.

Also discussed during Igor Sechin’s visit (in March) were the possibility of making payments in national currencies. Discussions were also held on the ongoing implementation of joint projects between Rosneft and its Indian partners, including Sakhalin-1, Taas-Yuryakh and Vankorneft.

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