OREANDA-NEWS. June 15, 2012. Vladimir Putin attended the opening of a new oil facility and watched the loading of the first tanker at the new deep-water terminal at Rosneft’s Tuapse Oil Refinery.

The deep-water terminal is made up of two facing rows of berths for loading tankers with capacity of up to 80,000 tons. The terminal is expected to handle 7 million tons of oil products a year.

Mr Putin was also briefed on Rosneft’s oil production data, and on the budget revenue the company generates, including through its privatisation, oil refinery modernisation programmes, and big projects in the Black Sea and Western Siberia.

The President thanked Rosneft’s management and staff for their successful work, noting that the oil and gas sector is the driving force in Russia’s economy, and that Rosneft has established itself as a leader not just in Russia but globally.

A video conference then took place at the Tuapse Oil Refinery, during which Mr Putin saw a presentation of Rosneft’s development strategy.

The President also witnessed the signing of an agreement between Rosneft and US company ExxonMobil on joint development of hard-to-access reserves in western Siberia.

Mr Putin also met with ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson.