MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rosneft and Eni S.p.A. have entered into a Cooperation extension agreement in the areas of upstream, refining, marketing and trading during the visit of an Italian delegation to Russia, as per Rosneft's press release.
The document was signed by Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin and Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.
The Agreement provides for the development of cooperation between Rosneft and Eni in Russia and abroad in the following areas: exploration and production of hydrocarbons, refining, trading, logistics, marketing and sales, petrochemicals, technology and innovation.
The document reinforces the previous agreements between the two companies, specifically in offshore to drill exploration wells as part of joint projects in the Black and Barents seas.
In addition, the parties will consider further expanding their international cooperation, including the Zohr project offshore Egypt, as well as the potential for joint supplies of refined products to the country.
Rosneft and Eni agreed to assess the potential for cooperation in refining at German refineries where both companies are shareholders, including the optimization of feedstock supplies. The parties also intend to consider using Eni technologies to refine heavy oil residues at Rosneft refineries.
In 2012, Rosneft and Eni signed a Strategic Cooperation Agreement, which provides for joint development of areas in the Black and Barents Sea in Russia, and for Rosneft to participate in Eni's international projects.
In December 2016, Rosneft signed a deal with ENI to acquire a 30% stake in the Concession for the Zohr gas field (with an option to acquire a further 5%), and a 15% stake in the Project Operator. The field is located in Egyptian offshore and is the largest gas discovery of the recent years. Rosneft is therefore becoming a participant in a project to develop Egypt's largest hydrocarbon field, and stands alongside with its global partners: Eni and BP. Once the deals between Rosneft, Eni and BP are completed, the ownership of the Concession Agreement can be structured as follows: Eni – 50%, Rosneft – up to 35%1, BP – up to 15%.
As MRC informed before, in December 2016, Rosneft said it had enough oil to fulfill new contracts with Swiss trader Glencore as markets gear up for a fierce battle between some of the world's largest merchants for supplies from the Russian company. Moscow said then that a consortium of Glencore and Qatar would buy a 19.5% stake in Rosneft for over 10 billion euros in one of the biggest energy deals of 2016.
Rosneft became Russia's largest publicly traded oil company in March 2013 after the USD55 billion takeover of TNK-BP, which was Russia’s third-largest oil producer at the time.
MRC