RusEnergy

10 May 2007 - Upstream OnLine - Russian state-run producer Rosneft has become the country's largest oil outfit after winning Yukos' Samaraneftegaz unit at auction today, tabling a winning bid of 165.531 billion roubles ($6.43 billion). Rosneft beat the only other bidder, a company called Versar, to clinch its widely-expected purchase of the assets. Versar was unheard of until it bid unsuccessfully in a previous Yukos auction, for the bankrupt company's electricity assets. The lot, which had a starting price of 154.1 billion roubles ($5.99 billion), comprises some of Yukos' most attractive assets, including three refineries with total processing capacity of 400,000 barrels per day and a 200,000 bpd oil production unit.