Rosneft President Participates in Igor Sechin’s Visit to Turkey

On December 15th Eduard Khudainatov, president of Rosneft, participated in the business trip of Russian Vice Prime Minister Igor Sechin to Turkey.

During the visit to Istanbul, the Russian Vice Prime Minister, who is in charge of the fuel and energy complex in the government, met with Taner Yildiz, Turkish Energy Minster. Following the meeting, the delegations signed a number of bilateral documents on the development of Russian-Turkish energy cooperation.

In his comment on the results of the meeting, Sechin told reporters that Rosneft and Transneft may each contribute 25% to the share capital of the Samsun–Ceyhan project, noting that the project currently involves “one Turkish (Calik Holding) and one Italian company (Eni)”.

The Samsun–Ceyhan oil pipeline, estimated to cost 4 billion US dollars, is planned to be laid from the Turkish city of Samsun on the Black Sea coast to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The project has been designed to pump between 60 and 70 million tons of oil annually, bypassing the Bosporus and the Dardanelles straights currently overloaded with traffic.

Khudainatov told reporters behind the scenes about the results of the Russian-Turkish negotiations and said that Rosneft and the Calik energy holding company have signed an agreement to set up a joint bunkering company, adding that the company, established on a parity basis, would engage in bunkering and oil product distribution.

“I am talking about off-shore bunkering, and not only in the Turkish waters, but throughout the Black Sea and near the Bosporus and the Dardanelles”, Khudainatov said.

Answering the question on the prospects of cooperation between Rosneft and Bashneft in the development of the Trebs and Titov oilfields, Khudainatov said, “We are not discussing Trebs and Titov with Bashneft”, stressing that growth is Rosneft’s main goal in oil production. According to his words, “all (next year’s) production targets will be approved” by the end of the month and “we are not talking tens of percent here, just percent”.

Khudainatov also said that Rosneft considers 2014 and 2015 to be the most appropriate timing for attracting a foreign strategic investor as part of the government privatization plan, according to which 15% of Rosneft’s shares will be sold in the open market, and 10% minus one share will be used for asset swaps with investors.

“The management needs two or three years to prepare the company, which, in our opinion, is three times undervalued. Look how much Exxon and BP cost now”, said Khudainatov. He also added that Rosneft is currently working on its development strategy.