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Tuesday, 02 December, 2008, 02:20 GMT | more >>

Rosneft sells Tomsk slice for $3.4bn



By Upstream staff 

Russian state-owned Vnesheconombank paid oil producer Rosneft $3.4 billion for a 50% stake in former Yukos unit Tomskneft, it emerged today.

A bond prospectus obtained by Reuters said Rosneft also paid $3.4 billion to acquire other Yukos assets, including the bankrupt company's Moscow headquarters, its trading outfit, Trading House Yukos-M, fuel stations and refined products depots.

Rosneft carried out the deals on 25 June. A company spokesman said he could neither confirm nor deny the information.

Rosneft bought Tomskneft, the 230,000 barrels per day East Siberian unit, at a state-forced auction to sell the bankrupt Yukos' assets on 3 May.

The purchase of Tomskneft and two smaller Yukos production units means Rosneft outstrips Lukoil as Russia's top oil producer and bolsters Rosneft's reserves.

Analysts told Reuters that the sale of a part of Tomskneft was a forced step for Rosneft, aimed at cutting its debt of $25 billion, but was a profitable deal for the oil company.

"If 50% in Tomskneft cost $3.4 billion, it means that the whole unit costs $6.8 billion. But Rosneft paid the same ($6.8 billion) for the whole lot, which also included two refineries," Artyom Konchin from Aton brokerage told the news agency.

Rosneft paid 175.7 billion roubles ($6.83 billion) for the lot of Yukos' East Siberian assets, which along with Tomskneft included a smaller production unit, East Siberian Oil & Gas Company, and the Angarsk and Achinsk refineries.

Konchin suggested that Rosneft might have agreed with Vnesheconombank to hold the Tomskneft's shares until Rosneft is in better financial position to buy them back.

But he also did not rule out that the bank might decide to sell the stake on to a company such as gas monopoly Gazprom, whose oil unit, Gazprom Neft, develops deposits close to Tomskneft's.

Rosneft president Sergei Bogdanchikov said last week the company planned to slash its debt to $15 billion by 2010 and might sell some non-core assets bought in the Yukos auctions.

The company plans the first issue of $2 billion to $3 billion under a $15 billion Medium Term Note programme this month.

Rosneft has bought most of the Yukos assets sold which, apart from the production units, included the company's five refineries and stakes in Rosneft itself and Gazprom Neft.

The acquisitions prompted rating agencies to upgrade Rosneft's outlook.


Friday, 06 July, 2007, 12:58 GMT  | last updated: Tuesday, 14 August, 2007, 09:16 GMT

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