OREANDA-NEWS. July 09, 2015. Rosneft Chairman of the Management Board Igor Sechin and Essar Group Founder Shashi Ruia signed a long-term contract for oil supplies for the purpose of refining at the Vadinar refinery (India).

The document was signed in Ufa within the BRICS summit in continuation of the agreements, reached in 2014 during the visit of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to India.

The contract envisages total supplies of 100 mln tones of crude oil over a period of 10 years.

Rosneft expands market outlet and amplifies the volume of supplies to the region, where growing points of the world’s economy are concentrated. Thanks to this agreement Rosneft grants itself a secure market outlet of crude oil, which will create an additional possibility of production planning and marketing.

Moreover, Rosneft and Essar shareholders signed a Term Sheet with regard to Rosneft participation in the Vadinar refinery equity capital with a share of up to 49%. The principles laid down in the Term Sheet, will be reflected in final documents, which will be subject to corporate approval.

The perspective Rosneft participation in the refinery’s equity capital will allow Rosneft to obtain a share in one of the biggest refineries in India and the Asia-Pacific region. The refining capacity of the Vadinar refinery is 20 mln t PA. The parties intend to significantly increase the refinery’s capacity, which will bring the capacity level of 45 mln t PA by the year 2020. The deal also includes a retail chain of 1,600 stations located in India, the parties plan to increase the total quantity of retail sites to 5,000 within the next 2 years.

The implementation of the terms of the signed document will increase the earning capacity of Rosneft operations in the region along the whole value chain and open new perspectives for the development of commercial activities in Asia-Pacific, will promote the expansion of the trading business’ potential.

Commenting on the signing, Igor Sechin said: “The reached agreements are of a strategic nature. The performance of the terms of the signed documents will have a substantial impact on the scale of economical cooperation between Russia and India. The goods turnover between two countries will grow more than 50%. The new formula of integrated cooperation opens wide perspectives for the development of dialogue, both in specialized and related areas”.

Note for editors:

The Vadinar refinery is the second in India and one the world leading 20 refineries by refining capacity, it is also one the 10 most complex refineries in world (Nelson complexity index is 11.8). The refinery is highly flexible in terms of raw materials use and is capable of refining heavy oil. In addition the refinery has access to a deep-water port, capable of accommodating VLCC tankers.

Essar Oil Limited also possesses a retail chain in India. The deregulation of pricing of gas in the Indian market opens growth perspectives for retail sales.