PJSC Rosneft Oil Company (Russian: Росне́фть, tr. Rosnéft’, IPA: [rɐsˈnʲeftʲ] stylized as ROSNEFT) is a Russian integrated energy company headquartered in Moscow. Rosneft specializes in the exploration, extraction, production, refinement, transport, and sale of petroleum, natural gas, and petroleum products. The company is controlled by the Russian government through the Rosneftegaz holding company. Its name is a portmanteau of the Russian words Rossiyskaya neft‘ (Russian: Российская нефть – Russian oil).[2][3]
Rosneft was founded in 1993 as a state enterprise and later incorporated in 1995, acquiring a number of state-controlled gas and oil assets. Rosneft became Russia’s leading oil company after purchasing assets of former oil company Yukos at state-run auctions. After acquiring OJSC TNK-BP in 2013, then one of the largest oil companies of Russia, Rosneft became the world’s largest publicly traded petroleum company.[3][4]
Rosneft is the third largest company of Russia and the second-largest state-controlled company after Gazprom in Russia in terms of revenue (₽4,134 billion).[5] Internationally, it is one of the largest oil companies, ranking 24 in terms of revenue. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, Rosneft was ranked as the 53rd -largest public company in the world.[6] The company operates in more than twenty countries around the world.[2][3]
Rosneft had played a major role in the history of Russia’s oil industry. The first mentioning of the name Rosneft dates back to the late 19th century, where exploration of oil fields in Sakhalin began in 1889. Most of Rosneft’s current assets were established during the Soviet era.[7]
Rosneft was established in 1993 as a unitary enterprise with assets previously held by Rosneftegaz, the successor to the Soviet Union‘s Ministry of Oil and Gas. During the early 1990s, almost all Russian oil companies and refineries were extracted from Rosneft to form ten integrated companies. Later their number was halved as a result of acquisitions. On 29 September 1995, an Order of the Government of Russia No. 971 transformed Rosneft into an open joint stock company.[8]
In March 1996, Rosneft founded the Russian Regional Development Bank.[9][10]
Rosneft struggled financially and operationally during the 1998 Russian financial crisis with decreased production due to poor assets and decreased retail sales with an underused refining capacity. In July 1998 the Russian government tried to sell Rosneft, but it failed.[11]
In October 1998, the Russian government appointed Sergey Bogdanchikov as president.[12] The company owned two obsolete refineries and several low-productive and poorly managed oil-producing assets. In the late 1990s, plans for Rosneft’s privatization in Russia were made, but due to competition with equally influential pretenders, they were not carried out.[7]
From 2002 to 2004, the main objectives of the company were to strengthen control over its assets, reduce the debt burden, and to obtain licenses in Eastern Siberia. The determining factor in enhancing the role of Rosneft in the Russian oil industry has been the support of the country’s top leadership. The company, during this time, managed to restore its status after its rough start in the 1990s with the acquisition of Krasnodar Oil and Gas Company in 2002 and Northern Oil Company in early 2003. In addition, in 2002, the company received a license for the development of the Sakhalin-IV and Sakhalin-V project,[13] and in 2003 a license for the development of the Sakhalin-III project.[citation needed]
In 2005, Rosneft acquired a 25.94% stake in the company Verkhnechonskneftegaz[14] and became the leading oil company of Russia in terms of production.[7][15]
In 2007, the company for the first time entered the annual list of one hundred most respected firms and companies in the world according to the weekly Barron’s, in 99th place.[16] By the same year, Rosneft produced 100 million barrels of oil, 20% of Russia’s output at the time.[7] In March 2007, Rosneft had announced it hoped to increase production from 80 million tonnes to 103 million tonnes from 2006 to the end of 2007, extract 140 million tonnes of oil by 2012, and become a global top three energy company.[17]
When the Great Recession struck Russia in late 2008, Rosneft was able to endure the economic pains by improving and strengthening business lines, management, and transparency, and as a result, became a leading oil company domestically and internationally.[7]
In February 2009, a number of agreements were negotiated between Russia and China that provided a 20-year contract for an annual supply of 15 million tons of oil between the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Rosneft, cooperation between CNPC and Transneft to construct and operate a branch of the Eastern Siberia–Pacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline to China, and the provision of loans for US$25 billion—US$15 billion from Rosneft and US$10 billion from Transneft—by the China Development Bank on the security of supplies.[18][19][20]
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosneft
