Nigerian based petroleum giant Oranto Petroleum and Russian state owned oil firm have opened talks with respect to a possible partnership. This was disclosed by a staff of the Nigeria based firm in a chat with Platts on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Forum.
“Oranto is planning a big cooperation with Rosneft, that collaboration is going to include upstream, midstream and downstream in Africa. We’re looking at 21 oil assets in 17 African countries”
The official also disclosed that a memorandum of understanding between both firms could be signed this week.
Russian firms have recently shown interest in Africa’s oil and gas industry. Lukoil had last year indicated interest in expanding to Africa and the company had been in the running to purchase Petrobras stakes in the Agbami and Akpo oil fields.
Crude oil prices have also recovered from the lows of the last few years and are currently trading at over $70 a barrel.
Oranto petroleum was founded by Arthur Eze in 1993 and is the exploration arm of the Atlas Oranto Petroleum International (AOPI) Limited.
The company has oil blocs across several African countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Sao-Tome and Principe, Uganda and South Sudan.
Rosneft, was founded in 1993 from the merger of several Russian owned oil and gas assets. The company is one of the largest petroleum firms in the world, with operations across several countries including Canada, Mozambique, Venezuela, Italy and Egypt. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange.