Former Indian Oil director joins Rosneft board

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Indian Oil Corporation has been appointed to the board of Rosneft in a fresh sign of growing energy ties between India and Russia. G K Satish, who served as Indian Oil’s planning and business development chief between 2016 and 2021, has been appointed to the Rosneft board along with 10 other members, the Russian firm said in a statement. The Rosneft board includes five independent directors, including Satish and a representative each from Qatar and the Philippines.

This is the first time an Indian has been appointed to the board of Rosneft. Indian Oil has an annual oil purchase deal with Rosneft, which is renewed annually. It has emerged as one of the largest buyers of Russian oil since the beginning of the Ukraine war last year.

Indian Oil is also part of the Indian consortium that has participating interests in two Russian oil fields operated by Rosneft. The Russian firm has investments in India’s second-largest private refiner, Nayara Energy. Rosneft has also recently expressed interest in setting up a new greenfield refinery in India in partnership with Indian state refiners, according to people familiar with the matter.

In 2016, Indian state firms evaluated buying a stake in Rosneft but didn’t go ahead. Qatar bought the stake in Rosneft in 2018. BP has a 19.75% equity stake in Rosneft while Qatar’s QH Oil Investments has 18.46% in the company.

After the beginning of the Ukraine war last year, BP announced it would exit its investments in Rosneft and other businesses in Russia. BP’s nominated directors immediately left the board of Rosneft. Two representatives of Qatar Investment Authority are currently on the board of Rosneft.