India requesting companies consider purchasing BP's stake in Rosneft, Exxon's stake in Sakhalin-1 project - media

MOSCOW. April 28 (Interfax) - The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) of India is requesting that the country's state corporations evaluate purchasing BP's stake in Rosneft , The Economic Times has reported, citing its sources.

The Indian authorities have also suggested that ONGC Videsh consider buying Exxon Mobil's stake in the Sakhalin-1 project.

As previously reported, the BP board of directors announced that the company would exit the share capital of Rosneft, in which it has held a 19.75% stake since 2013, as well as withdraw from the respective joint ventures with the Russian state-owned oil company, owing to the situation in Ukraine.

BP and Rosneft have three joint ventures in Russia. Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha LLC, in which BP owns a 20% stake, is developing the Srednebotuobinskoye oil and gas condensate field in Eastern Siberia. Ermak Neftegaz LLC, in which Rosneft has a 51% stake and BP has a 49% stake, was established in 2016 and is conducting geological exploration in Western Siberia and the Yenisei-Khatanga basin. Kharampurneftegaz, in which BP has a 49% stake, is planned to produce oil at mature fields and implement a gas production project.

ExxonMobil announced its exit from the Sakhalin-1 project in early March, as well as the cessation of any further investments in Russia. The company expects asset impairment of $4 billion in the country.

The parties involved in the Sakhalin-1 project are ExxonMobil with a 30% stake, Japan's SODECO with a 30% stake, Rosneft with a 20% stake, and India's ONGC with a 20%. The fields are estimated to have reserves totaling 307 million tonnes of oil and 485 billion cubic meters of natural gas.