Russia 'eyes state oilfield outfit'

Rosneft employess work at the Vankor oil field in eastern Siberia, some 2,800 km (1,740 miles) east of Moscow, November 24, 2006, at temperatures of around -40 degrees Celcius (-104 Fahrenheit). The Vankor project, scheduled to start production in 2008, is one of Russia's largest oil and gas assets.   REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin (RUSSIA)

Oilfield services: Rosneft employees work at the Vankor field in East Siberia

Foreign oilfield service companies operating in Russia could face fresh competition with the creation of a new state-owned entity under consideration by the Kremlin, according to a report.

Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin launched the idea of consolidating oilfield service assets belonging to state energy companies into a new outfit in a letter to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the Kommersant daily reported, quoting unnamed government officials.

Sechin has ordered the energy ministry and state energy companies to prepare the necessary documentation, according to the report, cited by Dow Jones.

The oil service company could be created on the basis of state-owned oil major Rosneft or energy holding company Rosneftegaz and could include assets belonging to state-controlled companies Gazprom and Zarubezhneft.

The consolidation…

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