Rosneft snaps up BP exec
RUSSIA’S top oil producer Rosneft yesterday beat forecasts with a $2.82bn (£1.78bn) third quarter net profit, as the state-owned giant ploughs on with its international expansion efforts.
Rosneft has hired a former BP project director to help it forge ties in the international market, just months after the firm’s $10bn share swap with BP collapsed.
Laurence Bates, who also previously worked for TNK-BP and Baker Hughes, left BP in September but will likely end up working on Rosneft’s similar exploration deal agreed with ExxonMobil.
Rosneft said its crude oil output has risen 2.9 per cent to 2.4m barrels a day during the three months to the end of September, while petroleum output rose 21 per cent on last year to 15m tonnes. The firm said tax and transport costs had dampened gains.