China’s biggest oil company will share the development of Russia-owned East Siberia oil fields following the signing of a memorandum.
On the basis of the new agreement China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) will own a 49% stake in the Srednebotuobinsk field, with Rosneft holding onto the remaining 51%.
The Russian state-owned giant preferred to sign a loan-based deal with China but eventually yielded to a partnership to address its debt of more than r $57billion (£35billion).
The deposits neighbour the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline which is used to deliver 300,000 barrels per day of oil to China – Russia’s biggest importer – with that amount due to double following a deal earlier this year.
This will be Rosneft’s second development agreement with a Chinese company – it is already jointly producing oil with Sinopec west of the Urals.