“The contract foresees deliveries to begin already in 2015 of 10 million tons of oil per year for a period of 10 years with the possibility of prolongation,” Sechin told journalists in India’s capital of New Delhi.
The contract was signed between Russia’s Rosneft and India’s largest oil manufacturing company Essar on the sidelines of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India.
Sechin said oil would be delivered by sea from different Russian regions, including from the Far East, as well as the Black and Baltic seas.
India is the world’s third largest oil buyer, with annual imports of some 170 million metric tons. The bulk of these oil supplies currently come from Iran, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. India’s minister of state for petroleum and natural gas said in October that oil import diversification in the form of purchases from South America and Russia will lower geopolitical risk.
Russia's Rosneft CEO Says Domestic, Foreign Investors Being Examined for Privatization
“Potential investors are being compiled. I think there will be several groups of investors, both domestic and foreign investors,” Sechin told journalists in India’s capital of New Delhi.
“We won’t take into consideration the market volatility [during privatization], only the fundamental value of the company [will be considered],” Sechin added.
State shares of 19.5 percent are to be privatized by 2016 according to a government program and could be accomplished in several steps. The shares are to be sold to private investors at a price no lower than the company’s 2006 IPO of an estimated $10.7 billion.
According to Sechin, it is too early to talk about the methods of privatization, as the technical process is currently being carried out.
Currently, the company's main shareholder (69.5 percent) is state-owned Rosneftegaz. British multinational energy giant BP owns another 19.75 percent, while the remaining 10.75 percent is publicly traded.
