Rosneft Sells 15% Stake in Vankorneft to ONGC Videsh

Russia's Rosneft announced Friday that it has signed an agreement to sell 15 percent interest in Vankorneft, the developer of the Vankor oil and gas condensate field in Turukhansky distrcit of Krasnoyak Territory in Russia, to India's ONGC Videsh Limited.

Both companies planned to close the deal after getting the necessary regulatory and other approvals following the signing of the agreement by the Chairman of Rosneft Management Board Igor Sechin and Managing Director of ONGC Videsh Narendra Verma.

Upon completion of the deal, ONGC Videsh will have two seats in the Board of Directors of Vankorneft. Rosneft will however keep 100 percent control of the general infrastructure of Vankor cluster, including oil pipeline Vankor-Purpe. The Russian firm will also create an operator company that will allow more efficient management of both Vankor field and other Company’s licenses in this region.

“Collaboration within such a large-scale project will allow getting on the brand new level of the strategic cooperation between Rosneft and ONGC. This will give an impulse to development of our partnership, probably in the other large-scale oil and gas upstream projects in the region. Such a short term between reaching the agreements and signing the document testifies the high level of credibility between us and the Indian partners which guarantees efficient joint work,” Igor Sechin said in the press release.