Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IndianOil), India's flagship national oil company, Oil India Limited (OIL) and Bharat PetroResources Limited (BPRL), acting jointly as the Indian Consortium, signed definitive agreements to acquire participatory shares representing 29.9% of the charter capital of LLC “TYNGD”, a company organised under the law of Russian Federation, from LLC RN Upstream, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rosneft Oil Company, the National Oil Company (NOC) of Russia. The acquisition is subject to relevant Board, Government and regulatory approvals and is expected to close by September 2016.

Rosneft Oil Company holds 80% shares while BP PLC (UK) holds 20% shares in TYNGD through their respective subsidiaries. TYNGD is currently producing 20,000 bopd with expected peak production of 100,000 bopd by 2021.

In addition to the above, a Heads of Agreement (HoA) was signed for evaluation of acquisition of 23.9% in the CJSC Vankorneft by the consortium of IOCL, OIL and BPRL with Rosneft Oil Company. CJSC Vankorneft is a company organised under the law of the Russian Federation, which is the owner of Vankor Field and North Vankor license. Vankor is Russia’s second largest field by production and accounts for 4% of Russian production and currently producing oil at a peak level of approximately 440,000 bopd.

Additionally, an MoU was signed between Rosneft and the consortium of IOCL, OIL & BPRL for joint evaluation of certain other assets of Rosneft in Russia.

The definitive agreement for TYNGD and HoA for Vankorneft and the MoU for joint evaluation of certain other assets were signed on 16th March 2016 in the presence of Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon. Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India by Mr. Igor Sechin, Chairman of the Management Board, Rosneft; Mr. B. Ashok, Chairman, Indian Oil Corporation Limited; Mr. U.P. Singh Chairman & Managing Director, Oil India Limited; and Mr. D Rajkumar, Managing Director, Bharat PetroResources Limited.

Rothschild is the exclusive financial adviser to the Indian Consortium, which is also being advised by CGG as Technical Adviser, Latham & Watkins as Legal Adviser and EY as accounting and tax adviser.

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan also had a bilateral meeting with Mr Igor Sechin. During the meeting, Shri Pradhan described Russia as a longstanding and time-tested partner of India. He expressed happiness that India and Russia have high levels of understanding and cooperation in almost all areas of the bilateral relationship. Both expressed their commitment to work together to further strengthen the India-Russia relations in the hydrocarbon sector.

Shri K D Tripathi, Secretary (Petroleum), H.E. Alexander Kadakin, Ambassador of Russia to India, senior officials from the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, CMD/CEOs of Indian public sector oil & gas enterprises and officials from Rosneft were present at the signing event.

About Indian Oil Corporation (IndianOil)

As India's flagship national oil company, with a 33,000-strong work-force currently, IndianOil has been meeting India’s energy demands for over half a century. With a corporate vision to be 'The Energy of India' and to become 'A globally admired company,' IndianOil's business interests straddle the entire hydrocarbon value-chain – from refining, pipeline transportation and marketing of petroleum products to exploration & production of crude oil & gas, marketing of natural gas and petrochemicals, besides forays into alternative energy and globalisation of downstream operations.

About Rosneft

Rosneft is the leader of Russia’s petroleum industry and the world’s largest public oil and gas
company by liquid hydrocarbon production and reserves. The Company’s core operations are in hydrocarbon exploration and appraisal, production of oil, gas and gas condensate, offshore developments, refining, marketing of oil, gas and oil products inside and outside Russia, and investment activity.

Rosneft’s exploration and production geography spans across all key oil and gas provinces in Russia, namely Western Siberia, Southern and Central Russia, Timano-Pechora, Eastern Siberia and the Far East. The Company also implements projects in Kazakhstan, Algeria, Venezuela, Brazil, Vietnam, the UAE, Canada, and in the Gulf of Mexico. Offshore projects, including in the Arctic, take a special place in Rosneft’s portfolio. Rosneft has joined forces with ExxonMobil, Eni and Statoil to develop Russia’s offshore resources.