Rosneft, ENI Extend Cooperation Deal

Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin and ΕΝΙ CEO Claudio Descalzi on Μay 17 signed a Cooperation Agreement for cooperation between the two companies in Russia and abroad in exploration and production, refining, trading, logistics and marketing, petrochemicals and technology and innovation sectors, the Italian energy major said in a press release.

The agreement was signed in Sochi in the presence of Russian Vladimir Putin, and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

The meeting consolidated previous agreements for the joint development of exploration activities in the Russian Barents Sea and Black Sea, and will underpin further opportunities between the two Groups, including Egypt’s massive Zohr project.

In December 2016, ENI reportedly said it would sell to Rosneft 30% in Zohr. ENI, which owns 90% of the Shorouk concession containing Zohr, said at the time that Rosneft would pay $1.125 billion and reimburse around $450 million for investments already carried out by ENI, according to Reuters.

The deal followed ENI’s sale of a 10% stake in Zohr to BP at the same implied price, bringing overall proceeds to around $2.1 billion. Zohr, discovered by ENI in 2015, is the biggest gas field in the Mediterranean with an estimated 850 billion cubic metres.

In terms of downstream operations, Rosneft and ENI will evaluate the use of ENI’s technology for processing heavy oil residues at Rosneft’s refineries and the cooperation in refining activities at German refineries where both companies are shareholders, ENI said.