Rumour mill: Abramovich pondering Sibneft sale to Gazprom
Moscow energy gossip is focusing on the possibility that Roman Abramovich has held preliminary discussions about selling Sibneft, the oil company he controls, to OAO Gazprom. Mr Abramovich, owner of Chelsea football cub and governor of the east Siberian province of Chuhotka, is said to wish to transfer all his business activities out of Russia. He is rumoured to have had discussions in the past two weeks with both President Putin and the board of Gazprom.
Mr. Abramovich’s supposed move follows the failure of Gazprom to take over oil major Rosneft. It also comes as the corruption case against Yukos chairman Mikhail Khodorkovsky reaches its inevitable climax.
Even if the rumours were proved to be correct, there would still remain a number of obstacles. Mr Abramovich would have to accept less than 100 kopecks to the rouble – Sibneft is currently valued at about $7 billion – and Russian oligarchs are not noted for leaving money on the table. The Rosneft deal collapsed in part because it became clear that Gazprom management was not up to the task of integrating a major oil producer into its gas business. Furthermore, Yukos, Mr. Khodorkovsky’s company, owns a minority share in Sibneft.
Sibneft produced around 640,000 b/d in 2003. Proven reserves, assessed to SEC standards, were close to 2.5 billion boe, of which only 3.5% were gas reserves. PH
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