Struggling under a hefty debt burden and western sanctions, Russian oil group Rosneft signed deals with Indian oil companies — ONGC Videsh ltd (OVl) and a consortium led by Indian Oil Corp (IOC) — to sell stakes in two major assets that could raise about $4.2 billion or over `28,253 crore for the group.
The deal was inked on the last day of Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin’s two-day visit to India.
IOC, Oil India ltd (OIl) and a unit of Bharat Petroleum Corp ltd (BPCl) signed sale purchase agreement (SPA) for 29.9 per cent stake in Tass-Yuriakh oilfield from Russia’s Rosneft for $1.28 billion. The consortium also signed Heads of Agreement (HoA) with Rosneft for taking 23.9 per cent stake in Vankor oilfield for just over $2 billion.
Simultaneously, OVl, the overseas arm of state-owned ONGC, which had in September last year bought 15 per cent in the Vankor for $1.26 billion, signed a MoU envisaging its stake going up in the Siberian oilfield to 26 per cent by paying an additional $925 million. The IOC-led consortium also signed another MoU with Rosneft for development of Vankor cluster fields of Suzunskoye, Tagulskoye and lodochnoye.
While speaking to reporters after the signing of the agreement, Sechin said the pacts allow Indian partners to participate in Rusian upstream sector, while opening the growing India market to Rosneft. While the IOC-OIl-Bharat PetroResources deal for 29.9 per cent stake in Tass-Yuriakh oilfield is a concluded agreement, the consortium’s Vankor deal is an initial pact and a sale purchase agreement is yet to be concluded. Similarly, OVl’s increase in stake in Vankor too is yet to be concluded.