Rosneft signed a record-high number of economic agreements, important for the company and the country in general, at the 17th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which traditionally put together representatives of the global political and business elites. 

“Today at the forum we sealed a number of new documents as part of Rosneft partnerships with international oil and gas majors ExxonMobil, Statoil and Eni (I am happy to see our friends in the audience and greet them), as well as an agreement on technological partnership with General Electric and Heads of Agreements on LNG supplies. In fact, this is a new stage: we move on to a full-scale cooperation in exploration, production and technology with Rosneft strategic partners,” Russian President Vladimir Putin told participants in the round table at the Energy Club Summit: Reshaping Global Oil Markets.

The documents, signed by President, Chairman of the Management Board of Rosneft Igor Sechin, strengthen the strategic alliances with the largest global companies and open new possibilities for partnerships in all spheres of business.

Strategic Partnership Offshore

Rosneft and ExxonMobil announced the achievement of several milestones under their 2011 Strategic Cooperation Agreement, including joint venture formation for the Kara Sea and Black Sea projects, and establishing foundations for joint ventures to explore seven other licenses in the Russian Arctic and to manage the joint West Siberia tight oil project.

Rosneft and Statoil signed agreement on completion of several milestones under the Cooperation Agreement entered into on May 5, 2012. The parties signed Completion Deed relating to the development of Russian offshore blocks in the Barents Sea and in the Sea of Okhotsk: Lisyansky, Kashevarovsky, Perseevsky and Magadan 1. Signing the Completion Deed confirms formation of JVs, entering into final agreements and fulfillment of all conditions for completion.

Rosneft and Eni S.p.A. signed Completion Deed for the Russian offshore projects. The companies announced the formation of organizational structures for cooperation, signed all definitive agreements and fulfilled all conditions required to develop the offshore projects in the Barents Sea and in the Black Sea under the Strategic Cooperation Agreement entered into by the parties in 2012.

Strategic Cooperation

GE has become a new strategic partner of Rosneft. The Agreement will leverage GE technologies and equipment to improve the production efficiency and yields of Rosneft upstream & downstream assets as well as provide for a series of joint ventures to develop, manufacture, and sell new cutting edge technologies and equipment in Russia for use in the oil and gas industry.

Tight Oil Production

As part of their 2011 Strategic Cooperation Agreement, Rosneft and ExxonMobil signed documents establishing the foundation for a new joint venture for a tight oil pilot project in West Siberia, where data collection operations are currently underway.

Rosneft and Statoil signed Heads of Agreement for joint pilot development of Domanic shale formations at 12 Rosneft license blocks in the Samara region. Rosneft stake in the project will be 51%, while Statoil will hold 49%. In accordance with the agreement, Statoil will provide carry financing of up to $60 mln to perform the pilot survey program, as well as state-of-the-art technologies and professionals in hard to recover reserves.

Supplies and Trading

Rosneft’s long-term agreements with the Chinese National Petroleum Company on the supplies of $270 billion’s worth of crude oil became unprecedented for the global business. The agreements were signed in the framework of the Intergovernmental Agreement between Russia and China, entered into in March 2013.

In addition, Rosneft signed a contract with PKN ORLEN S.A. for crude oil deliveries via pipeline Druzhba to the Czech Republic. The value of the agreement amounts to approximately $7 billion at the current market prices, the agreed volume of deliveries is up to 8 million tons. The contract with PKN ORLEN S.A. is agreed with deliveries until the 30 June 2016.

Yet another five-year crude oil and petroleum product supply contract was signed with Trafigura, envisaging a prepayment of up to $1.5 billion. The sale price on this contract will be in line with the price received by the Company at regular tenders.

An agreement with SARAS S.p.A was signed to create a joint venture on crude oil and petroleum products trading in order to enable the companies to carry out trading operations involving both parties' assets as well as enter new markets using both companies’ potential.

LNG

Rosneft also signed Heads of Agreement for sale and purchase of liquefied natural gas with Japan’s Marubeni Corporation and Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development Co., Ltd. (SODECO). LNG will be delivered to Marubeni under a new LNG project Rosneft intends to develop in the Russian Far East. The Heads of Agreement outlines key commercial parameters, which will underlie the future long-term LNG supply contract. In accordance with the Heads of Agreement, Rosneft plans to deliver 1.25 million tons of LNG to Marubeni annually on a long-term basis starting from 2019. The agreements with SODECO sets forth key commercial terms of the long-term contract for the delivery of 1 million tons of LNG to be purchased annually from Rosneft’s future project in the Far East to start in the first quarter of 2019. The agreements give Rosneft an access to the strategically important Japanese natural gas market – the largest in the Asia-Pacific region.

Another Heads of Agreement for an LNG contract was sealed with Vitol. Following the new agreement, Vitol will become a large strategic buyer of LNG from Rosneft’s planned facility in the Russian Far East. The supplies of LNG, which are anticipated to commence in 2019, will enable Vitol to serve clients across Asia-Pacific region.

Also is place is an agreement, signed as part of the Rosneft-ExxonMobil 2011 Strategic Partnership Agreement, identifying further steps for the development of a LNG plant in the Russian Far East.

Refining

Rosneft and SANORS petrochemical holding company signed Heads of Agreement (HoA), under which the parties intend to create a joint venture that will incorporate Rosneft’s gas processing assets and SANORS’ petrochemical assets. It is planned that the complex will be focused on import substitution and meeting growing domestic demand for key polymers and other chemicals able to meet market competition in terms of quality and technologies.

Natural Gas as Motor Fuel

In fulfillment of the orders to raise energy efficiency by expanding the use of natural gas as a motor fuel, which were outlined by the President of the Russian Federation and the national Government, Rosneft President and Chairman of the Management Board signed agreements aiming to substitute natural gas for petrol and diesel as motor fuels with the governors of the Krasnoyarsk, Murmansk, Sakhalin, Irkutsk, Ryazan and Yaroslavl regions.

Equipment

Rosneft and GE also signed a contract for GE to supply two highly efficient 6F 3-series gas turbines with minimal emissions level for Rosneft’s largest production project at its Vankor oilfield in Siberia. The two 75-megawatt 6F 3-series gas turbines will be manufactured at a factory that is operated by a joint venture of GE, INTER RAO UES Group and United Engine Corporation.

Environmental safety

A recognized leader of the Russian oil and gas industry and one of the largest oil companies in the world, Rosneft attaches paramount importance to environmental safety. The company assumes responsibility for compliance with the most stringent standards of ecological safety of production processes and prevention of any negative environmental impact. As part of the Forum, Rosneft and the WWF-Russia sealed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation and constructive dialogue on nature conservation. Cooperation with WWF is the most important driver of ecological initiatives by Rosneft.

In addition, Rosneft and Eni signed a Declaration on Protection of the Environment and Biodiversity for Oil and Gas Exploration and Development on the Russian Continental Shelf. Considering the continuous improvement of technologies and operating procedures for exploration and development of Arctic mineral resources as their objective, Rosneft and Eni reiterated their commitment to ensure a sustained development of the Arctic region, including by minimizing the impact on indigenous population and climate.

Loan Agreements

Rosneft and China Development Bank finalized contractual documentation for a long-term credit line in the framework of facility agreement signed between the parties in March 2013. The loan amounts to $2 bln and is secured by current contract for crude oil supplies inked between Rosneft and CNPC in 2009.

Regional Cooperation

Rosneft’s President and Chairman of the Management Board Igor Sechin and Murmansk region’s Governor Marina Kovtun signed an agreement seeking to expand social, economic, industrial and infrastructural projects in the Murmansk region during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. The agreement outlines the parties’ commitments to put into action a number of joint projects in the Murmansk region. The parties agreed that the key, strategic areas of their cooperation will include the Comprehensive Development of the Murmansk Transport Hub, the creation of an LNG production, handling and regasifying facility in the Murmansk region, and the development of the special economic zone in the Murmansk seaport.

Investment Opportunities

Rosneft President and Chairman of the Management Board Igor Sechin and Minister of Economy of Republic of Croatia Ivan Vrdoljak in the framework of St Petersburg International Economic Forum have signed “Joint Statement of Interest to invest in the energy sector of the Republic of Croatia” which is aimed at supporting Rosneft in exploring possibilities for execution of various energy projects in Republic of Croatia. The Parties have outlined areas of potential mutual cooperation in supply of oil and petroleum products, incl. bunkering activity in Croatian commercial ports as well as investments in infrastructure for oil and petroleum product transfer, storage and transportation.

Rosneft CEO head spoke at the ‘Energy Club Summit: Reshaping Global Oil Markets’ roundtable. Igor Sechin outlined Rosneft position on the key issues of oil and gas industry development, touching upon the main trends and challenges of the global energy market, as well as the competition for new technologies in the sphere of renewable energy sources, exploration and production of hard-to-recover hydrocarbons.

Igor Sechin attached significant importance to the prospects of corporate development, and the leading role of Rosneft on the Russian and global markets within the background of challenges, posed by the changes in the structure of the demand for energy resources, developing technologies and increasing competition in the world economy and energy sector.

In addition to signing agreements as part of the working program of the Rosneft delegation, Igor Sechin held some working meetings with heads and high-ranking officials of Russian and foreign governmental agencies and companies.

Also at the forum, on behalf of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, President and Chairman of the Rosneft Management Board Igor Sechin presented Global Energy awards to this year’s international energy prize winners – President of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Director of the United Institute of High Temperatures Vladimir Fortov, and Japanese scientist Akira Yoshino, the developer of the lithium-ion battery.