![BP chief Bob Dudley will be speaking at a panel at the SPEIF 2015 in Russia [Image: Rosneft]](http://news.windowstorussia.com/wp-content/plugins/RSSPoster_PRO/cache/104e6_bp-rosneft.jpg)
BP chief Bob Dudley will be speaking at a panel at the SPEIF 2015 in Russia [Image: Rosneft]
British Petroleum and Russian energy giant Rosneft are inching towards a $800 million deal that could be announced during the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum this week, media reports said on Monday.
BP is buying a 20 per cent stake in an east Siberian oil field from Rosneft for as much as $800 million, said Reuters.
A Financial Times report also quoted sources as saying Italian multinational energy giants Eni and Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil have both received approvals from their governments to continue working on their joint ventures with Rosneft.
Shell is also keen to boost capacity of its $20 billion Sakhalin plant by a third.
Moscow is hoping the cooperation deals to be inked during the SPIEF in Russia this week, would covey the message that the Russian oil industry is far from crushed.
Top executives from Shell, Total, BP will be traveling to Saint Petersburg to participate in the SPIEF, Russia’s equivalent of Davos this week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s innermost circle and hundreds of western business leaders will be attending the event .
With the G7 warning tighter economic sanctions against Moscow and its political isolation, the three-day event in Saint Petersburg is increasingly seen as a serious test of western resolve.
The St Petersburg international economic forum runs from 18-20 June, and ranges over a array of subjects with a focus on Russia’s role in the world economy.
This year, the SPIEF is also hosting a BRICS Business meet where business leaders from Brazil, China, India and South Africa will discuss ways to boost trade and investment ties within the bloc.
TBP