MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian oil major Rosneft will consider proposals to replace a stake in US-based refiner Citgo it holds as collateral for a 2016 loan to Venezuela with another asset, reported Reuters with reference to CEO Igor Sechin.
"If they offer something more interesting, we will consider (proposals)," Sechin told a news briefing, adding Rosneft had no plans to use the Citgo stake in any way other than collateral.
Reuters reported in July that Rosneft was negotiating to swap its collateral in Venezuelan-owned, US-based refiner Citgo for oilfield stakes and a fuel supply deal in a move to avoid complications stemming from US sanctions.
As MRC informed before, in June 2016, Rosneft and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) signed a Framework Agreement on joint pre-feasibility study of the project related to the construction and operation of a gas processing and petrochemical complex in East Siberia. The Agreement signed in furtherance of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in petrochemical projects, provides to select a technology for natural gas processing from its components to polymers. The parties also decided to choose a consultant for the project management and identified competitive challenges and the time to fix them before entering the stage front-end engineering design (FEED). In the event of successful outcomes as stipulated by the Framework Agreement, it is supposed to create a joint venture between Rosneft and Sinopec in 2017.
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