The board of oil major Rosneft will consider a “major deal” on Tuesday, said Alexander Burgansky, an oil analyst at Otkritie Financial.
The agenda may involve a $15 billion deal, such as amending the terms of a 2009 oil-for-loans agreement with China or a continuation of its exploration and production agreement with ExxonMobil, Burgansky said Monday by e-mail. Otkritie is partially owned by state-controlled lender VTB Group.
Andrei Knutov, a spokesman for Moscow-based Rosneft, declined to comment.
Rosneft said last week that its board would discuss the price of a share buyback and deals exceeding $500 million in value at a Feb. 28 meeting. A regulatory filing on the meeting didn’t provide further information.
Minority shareholders that oppose the deal may be offered a buyback, Burgansky said.
In September 2009, Rosneft bought back stock from minority shareholders that voted against an oil-for-loans deal with China. Rosneft agreed to borrow as much as $15 billion for 20 years and supply about 9 million tons of crude annually under that deal, according to the company’s website.
