Rosneft purchase of Kurdistan oil to boost margin of overseas downstream assets
LONDON. Feb 22 (Interfax) - Rosneft's contract to purchase Kurdistan oil will boost the refining margin of Rosneft's overseas downstream assets, Didier Casimiro, Rosneft Vice President for Refining, Petrochemical, Commerce and Logistics told journalists during the IP Week conference.
The agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq is yet another important achievement in the development Rosneft's trading division's potential. The increase in the volume of trade, especially in the current, challenging macroeconomic conditions, will allow for the raising of RTSA profitability and increase the refining margin of our overseas assets, he said.
The current situation on the market is "positive" for energy trading. Diversification will allow Rosneft to ensure robust growth. As part of this strategy, the company is carrying out reasoned investments in key regions, such as Asia-Pacific: for example, the acquisition of a stake in India's Essar Oil will grant access to one of the most dynamically growing fuel markets in the world, he said.
Rosneft and the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq signed a cooperation agreement in the fields of upstream, infrastructure, logistics and trading, on the sidelines of the IP week conference in London.
Pursuant to the cooperation agreement the parties signed a pre-financed crude oil purchase and sale contract of Kurdistan Region crude oil at Rosneft's expense over the period 2017-2019, Rosneft said in a statement. The purchaser of crude will be Rosneft's trading arm, Rosneft Trading SA, Rosneft said.
After its purchase of Bashneft Rosneft gained the opportunity to work on the first exploration well at block 12, located in Iraq's Najaf and Muthanna provinces, 80 kilometers southwest of Samawah and 130 kilometers west of Nasriya. Block 12 is part of the western desert, an unexplored region of Iraq with the country's largest oil potential. The block is 7,680 square kilometers in area. Exploration at the block is considered low-risk. The company has started drilling as part of the project.
Rosneft has no projects in Kurdistan.
