Rosneft and Essar signed key terms of oil and oil products supplies to Essar refineries in India. Supplies may begin in 2015. Consequently Rosneft expands its distribution area and builds up deliveries to the region, where the world’s economy growth zones are concentrated.

The document was signed on December 11 in New Delhi by the Head of Rosneft, Mr Igor Sechin and the Founder of Essar, Mr Shashi Ruia in the presence of the Honorable President of the Russian Federation Mr Vladimir Putin and the Honorable Prime-Minister of India Mr Narendra Modi.

The reached agreement opens new horizons of cooperation between the two countries, thanks to the synergistic potential of the partnership in Upstream and Downstream areas of two leaders of the oil and gas industry of Russia and India. Thanks to this agreement Rosneft grants itself a secure market outlet of oil and oil products, while Essar gains a reliable and stable partner as a supplier of oil and oil products to its refining facilities.

Commenting on the signing Igor Sechin said: “The strategic potential of reached agreement between Rosneft – a global leader of hydrocarbon production – and Essar – a world’s leading player in the refining area – can hardly be overestimated. The performance of the terms of the agreement will have a substantial impact on the scale of economical cooperation between Russia and India – our Company estimates that the implementation of the contract will fuel significant growth in the goods turnover between two countries. For our Indian partners the signing of this agreement represents a vital element of basic supplies diversification which, at the same time, will ensure energy security for the country. The Russian counterpart, in turn, will get the possibility of production and supplies volume planning to a new region with considerable growth potential”.

Talking on the agreement Shashi Ruia said: “We are very happy to partner Rosneft, a global leader in hydrocarbon reserves and production, for long term supply of crude oil and products. This provides good long term raw material security to our refineries."

About Essar

Essar Global Fund Limited (Essar) is an investment fund managed by its investment manager, Essar Capital Limited. The Fund is a global investor, controlling a number of world-class assets diversified across the core sectors of Energy, Metals & Mining, Infrastructure (comprising ports and EPC businesses) and Services (primarily comprising shipping and BPO businesses). The aggregated revenues of the Fund’s portfolio companies total US$35 billion. The Fund’s portfolio companies employ over 60,000 people across 29 countries, and have adopted international standards of health, safety, environmental protection and corporate governance.

Essar Oil Limited, one of the assets in the energy portfolio of Essar, is a fully integrated oil & gas company of international scale with strong presence across the hydrocarbon value chain from exploration & production to refining and oil retail. Essar Oil owns India’s second largest single site refinery having a capacity of 20 MMTPA and complexity of 11.8, which is amongst the highest globally. It has a portfolio of onshore and offshore oil & gas blocks with about 1.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent in reserves & resources. There are more than 1,700 Essar-branded oil retail outlets in various parts of India.

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.

Rosneft is one of the major investors in Russia’s economy and the country’s biggest taxpayer.