Rosneft and BP signed an agreement on Saturday to jointly explore for hard-to-recover oil in Russia, the first major deal for the state-run Russian oil company since the West imposed sanctions over Ukraine in March. Reuters said that Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, has been targeted by U.S. sanctions along with some other members of Putin's so-called inner circle following Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March. Western energy bosses saved the St Petersburg International Economic forum from a complete failure by effectively standing by Russia as heads of top banks and many other firms did not show up for fear of reprisals over the sanctions. Russia is the world's leading oil producer with current output of around 10.5 million barrels per day (bpd) but the bulk of production is coming from depleted western Siberian deposits. Moscow is hoping to repeat the shale oil boom in the United States, which changed the global energy landscape as Washington is gradually cutting oil imports and preparing to start exports, pushing other producers like Russia to forge closer business ties with Asia. Rosneft will hold 51 percent of the joint venture which will explore the so-called Domanic formation and BP will hold 49 percent. BP holds an almost 20 percent stake in Rosneft. "We are very pleased to be a part of Russian energy complex," Bob Dudley, chief executive with BP, told the forum. He was also present at the signing but did not sign it himself. -- SPA 18:54 LOCAL TIME 15:54 GMT تغريد
