India, China eye Rosneft stake

Oil companies from India and China are seeking stake in Russia's state-owned oil major Rosneft but no concrete deals have been struck so far, Russian Energy Minister Victor Khristenko said on Friday.

"Many companies, Indian and Chinese, are interested in the purchase of Rosneft shares," he said. The minister, however, added that signing of direct deals is not yet being discussed. "The sides are yet to tackle this matter."

Both India and China have expressed interest in picking stake in former Yukos core asset "Yuganskneftegaz", acquired by Rosneft, last December in a disputed auction.

Earlier, Rosneft had offered India's energy major ONGC stakes in several oil blocks in Russia, including Vankor in Siberia and Sakhalin-3 offshore in the Sea of Okhotsk near Japan. ONGC's foreign operations arm OVL already has a 20 per cent stake in Sakhalin-1.

Indian Ambassador to Russia Kanwal Sibal has said that New Delhi would be willing to invest "several" billion dollars to pick stakes in Russian hydrocarbon resources as part of India's drive to ensure energy security.