Rosneft considering Norway asset swap

Russia’s Rosneft is considering swapping some of its domestic assets for acreage on Norway’s continental shelf, international media reported on Thursday.

The world’s top listed oil company by output is also bidding in Norway’s 24th Arctic licensing round, Halfdan Millang, the CEO of Rosneft’s Norwegian arm, RN Nordic Oil, told Reuters.

“Primarily we are looking at assets swaps,” Millang said. “Not necessarily only in the Barents Sea, but on the whole Norwegian shelf.”

The report marks Rosneft’s latest international foray in the face of Western sanctions imposed on it after Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. In recent months, the Russian oil giant has sought to aggressively expand its international presence, including by investing heavily in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and in the Arctic, purchasing India’s second-largest private refiner, Essar Oil, and extending a USD 6-billion loan to Venezuela’s PDVSA.