Moscow court unfreezes shares of developer PIK Group

Russia Bashneft to tie up with LUKOIL on Arctic oil

MOSCOW, March 14 (Reuters) - Russia's mid-size oil producer Bashneft (BANE.RTS: Quote, Profile, Research) is in final talks with LUKOIL (LKOH.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) on the joint development of the giant Trebs and Titov deposits, the chairman of Bashneft's board said on Monday.

Bashneft, owned by oil-to-telecoms group Sistema (SSAq.L: Quote, Profile, Research), has said investment in the Arctic fields will be around $5-6 billion. The company has been searching for a partner that could share the development cost for several months.

Bashneft's chairman Alexander Goncharuk also told reporters that Bashneft plans to increase annual oil production to 18-20 million tonnes by 2013-2014, prior to the launch of Trebs and Titov. (Reporting Olesya Ostakhova; writing by Jessica Bachman; editing by Maria Kiselyova)

http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20110314120413.shtml

      RBC, 14.03.2011, Moscow 12:04:13.Russian oil company Bashneft is considering selling a 20-25 percent equity stake to India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Alexander Goncharuk, chairman of Bashneft board of directors, told reporters today.

First Russian Petroleum Congress opens in Moscow

Moscow hosts the 1^st Russian Petroleum Congress. Spanning three days, it brings together over 2000 representatives from business, industry and science. The congress shall look at: oil as a global source of energy, modernization of Russia’s oil and gas complex, strategy development and improvement of technologies for modernization of petrochemical and oil refining.

   The forum also has a special program on offer targeting young people from different countries.

A memorandum will be signed on the closing day for Moscow to host in 2014 the 21^st World Petroleum Congress. Russia won the tender for it last year.

Russia, Japan May Join Global Bidding War for U.S. Oil, Shale Gas Assets

U.S. and Canadian oil and natural- gas companies are outpacing last year’s $122.5 billion in mergers and acquisitions, with sales announced so far this year valued at $19.2 billion more than in the same period last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

So far, U.S. and Canadian oil and gas companies have sold assets in 85 transactions valued collectively at $28.5 billion.

Japanese, South Korean and Russian companies will likely jockey for stakes in difficult-to-tap U.S. reservoirs, joining cash-rich Reliance Industries Ltd., China Petrochemical Corp., and Cnooc Ltd., which may expand their acquisitions from last year, according to bankers, lawyers and company executives interviewed during CERAWeek, a Houston conference sponsored by IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates. Transactions won’t be limited to North America.

“I think you’ll see more activity globally,” said David Asmus, leader of the energy practice at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, a lawfirm in Houston. “Certainly there will be some significant-sized deals.” There’s a possibility of deals in excess of $5 billion, he said.

Transactions already have edged toward the $5 billion mark, as BHP Billiton Ltd. paid $4.75 billion for Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s gas assets in the Fayetteville shale formation. Overseas companies are competing to access U.S. shale reserves, which hold enough gas to meet 34 years of demand at current consumption levels, according to U.S. energy department estimates.