Russia's Rosneft Mulls Bashneft Acquisition

Russia’s Rosneft has assessed the value of Bashneft and is considering buying it, Vedomosti reported on Tuesday quoting two sources close to the situation.

Rosneft, the world’s biggest crude producer, was the protagonist at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. It signed agreements with China National Petroleum Corporation, Eni, ExxonMobil, General Electric, Marubeni, PKN ORLEN, Saras, Sanors, Sodeco, Statoil, Trafigura, Vitol and Croatia's Ministry of Economy.

Some commentators think that Rosneft, in collaboration with Novatek, wants to erode the dominance of Gazprom and to promote its gas business, starting with investments into LNG.

Bashneft, a vertically integrated oil company, ranks among the top-ten Russian oil producers and in the top-five oil refining companies.

According to story published by Vedomosti, Rosneft’s management spoke about an interest in Bashneft earlier this year, in occasion of the meeting with investment bankers and advisers for purchasing TNK-BP. 

The consolidation of Rosneft has left foreign investors subject to growing state-control in the energy sector. The US$55bn acquisition of Anglo-Russian venture TNK-BP in March 2013 involved the procurement by Rosneft of the respective 50% stakes of TNK-BP held by BP and the consortium of Russian oligarchs, Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR).