14 May 2021 16:51

Rosneft hoping for another partner to join Vostok Oil project before end-2021

MOSCOW. May 14 (Interfax) - Rosneft expects another partner to join the Vostok Oil project before the end of 2021.

"We are in talks with a whole range of parties. And by the end of the year, perhaps even sooner, we'll announce to the market that one more party will join Vostok Oil," Rosneft Vice President Didier Casimiro said on a conference call.

At the end of 2020, international trader Trafigura announced the completion of a deal to acquire a 10% stake in Vostok Oil from Rosneft for 7 billion euros.

Vostok Oil included 52 licensed areas with 13 discovered hydrocarbon fields as of the end of April 2021. Rosneft has elaborated a program of pilot operations that will start to be implemented in 2022 for the project.

Rosneft has pledged to already ship 30 million tonnes of oil from Vostok Oil through the Northern Sea Route in 2024. Vostok Oil is expected to result in the production, transhipment and transportation of 50 million tonnes of crude in the first phase, growing to as much as 100 million tonnes in the second phase.