Rosneft Closes the Deal with PetroRio and Becomes the Holder of 100% of the Solimoes Project

Closing follows formal approval of the transaction by ANP (Agencia Nacional do Petroleo, Gas Natural e Biocombustiveis – Brazil).

The finalization of the transaction will lead to Rosneft Brasil receiving 100% control and full operatorship in the Solimões project to the company.

The transaction totaled USD 55 million.

The acquisition of the remaining interest in the Solimoes Project will allow Rosneft Brasil to continue the exploration program in frontier areas, focused on oil opportunities, and advance joint work with Petrobras on the monetization of proven gas resources. Planning will now start on the commencement of operations before 2015 is out.

The Solimões project establishes Rosneft in Brazil, a country with major upstream growth opportunities and synergies with Rosneft operations in Venezuela.

Rosneft has a vast experience in managing remote drilling and seismic operations, which the company will implement in the realization of the Solimões project. Post exploration Rosneft expects to use its expertise in onshore production of oil and gas.

The Solimões blocks cover an area of approximately 41 500 sq. km. The project includes 16 license blocks.

Blocks contain 11 discovered accumulations of hydrocarbons, which have been evaluated by D&M resulting in an estimate of 717 million BOE of 3C contingent resources (of which 95% is natural gas) and prospective oil resources 1005 MMbbl and prospective gas resources 800 million BOE.

In July 2014 Rosneft and Petrobras signed a Memorandum of Understanding that envisages the detailed analysis of options for monetization of gas held in the Solimões basin, creation of a joint Work Group and preparation of roadmap for progressing the study.