RusEnergy

July 03, 2006 Kommersant - Rosneft is in talks with oil giants urging them to invest in the IPO. The respective negotiations are underway with British BP, British-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell, Indian ONGC, China's CNPC and Malaysian Petronas. Petronas, CNPC and ONGC manifest the greatest interest, but Europe is far from abuzz. Rosneft has offered some foreign companies to buy out its stocks through IPO, expecting each of them to invest from $0.5 billion to $1 billion, foreign mass media reported Friday. Some sources say BP was proposed up to $2-billion worth, i.e. up to 3.75 percent in the non-consolidated Rosneft. But it contradicts the promise of Rosneft President Sergey Bogdanchikov that no investor would consolidate more than 2 percent in the company. According to other sources, the offer doesn't exceed $1 billion. Shell was proposed, for instance, to funnel between $500 million to $1 million into the IPO. BP and Shell didn't confirm negotiations or even the mere interest in Rosneft stocks. If BP and Shell don't get inspired by Rosneft IPO, its stocks could go, for instance, to Malaysian Petronas and Brazilian Petrobras, The Business reported. Both companies are said to be ready to invest from $500 million to $1 billion, which is in line with the 2 percent ceiling stipulated by Bogdanchikov. At the same time, Indian ONGC Videsh made clear to the Kremlin it is willing to acquire up to 5 percent in Rosneft by investing around $4 billion, The Financial Express of India reported referring to a source on the local market. In return, ONGC wants the access to Sakhalin-3 project, Vankor field or Timano-Pechora oil and gas fields. Rosneft declined to comment on the talks. The order book has been over-subscribed, Interfax reported.