Russia’s Rosneft – World’s largest oil producer

Russia’s state-run Rosneft oil company has become the world’s largest producer after surpassing American ExxonMobil. The difference in their volumes of production is about one million tons, a small amount compared to their total production. Not only the Russian company is planning to preserve its position, it also intends to improve its key indicators.

Rosneft boasts oil production facilities in northern Russia, Siberia and the Far East, as well as seven oil refineries. Since 2004, it has been working at the world’s largest oil deposits. In the past nine months, it has produced almost 90 million tons of oil, leaving the American company behind. At the same time, Rosneft has a huge potential, says Natalya Shulyar, an expert in the fuel and energy sector.

“Considering that Russia is the world’s largest oil producer, it’s no surprise that Rosneft has reached the world’s top position in production. The company is developing fast and is investing in new projects, that’s why, it has good prospects,” Natalya Shulyar said.

Rosneft projects include development of offshore oil fields and of the Vankor oil and gas field in East Siberia. The oil extracted from the Vankor field will fill the East Siberia-Pacific oil pipeline. Moreover, the company is involved in developing the Carabobo-2 oil field in Venezuela.

Despite its success in oil production the Russian company’s overall production of hydrocarbons is half the amount extracted by its main competitor, ExxonMobil. Rosneft has set itself a target to improve its performance in other key areas by 2012, i.e. the production of natural gas and gas condensate. To this end, it needs to concentrate on expanding into new regions, an expert in energy issues, Sergei Pikin said in an interview with the Voice of Russia.

“Unlike all the Russian oil and gas companies, ExxonMobil is a multinational company. Consequently, the potential for Rosneft’s development lies in the diversification of its regions of operation, which will help expand the resource base and bring it closer to major oil consuming centres. This model would help the company to receive additional preferences,” Sergei Pikin said.

Rosneft and ExxonMobil are not only competitors but also partners. A few months ago, they agreed to conduct joint exploration of oil fields in the Arctic, while at the same time Russia will get an opportunity to extract oil from American oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico and in Texas.
Voice of Russia