Rosneft passes ExxonMobil to become world's top oil producer

Russia's state-run Rosneft oil company has become the world's largest producer after surpassing U.S. giant ExxonMobil, Voice of Russia radio reported Thursday (Dec. 22). The difference in their volumes of production is about 1 million tons, a small amount compared with their total production. Not only is the Russian company planning to preserve its position, it also intends to improve its key indicators.

Rosneft boasts oil production facilities in northern Russia, Siberia and the Far East, as well as seven refineries. Since 2004, it has been working at the world's largest oil deposits. In the past nine months, it has produced almost 90 million metric tons of oil, leaving the American company behind. At the same time, Rosneft has huge potential, said Natalya Shulyar, an expert in the fuel and energy sector.

"Considering that Russia is the world's largest oil producer, it's no surprise that Rosneft has reached the world's top position in production. The company is developing fast and is investing in new projects, that's why, it has good prospects," Shulyar said.

Rosneft projects include development of offshore oil fields and of the Vankor oil and gas field in East Siberia. The oil extracted from the Vankor field will fill the East Siberia-Pacific oil pipeline. Moreover, the company is involved in developing the Carabobo-2 oil field in Venezuela.

Despite its success in oil production the Russian company's overall production of hydrocarbons is half the amount extracted by its main competitor, ExxonMobil. Rosneft has set itself a target to improve its performance in other key areas by 2012 -- the production of natural gas and gas condensate. To this end, it needs to concentrate on expanding into new regions, an expert in energy issues, Sergei Pikin, told Voice of Russia in an interview.

"Unlike all the Russian oil and gas companies, ExxonMobil is a multinational company," Pikin said. "Consequently, the potential for Rosneft's development lies in the diversification of its regions of operation, which will help expand the resource base and bring it closer to major oil-consuming centers. This model would help the company to receive additional preferences."

Rosneft and ExxonMobil are partners as well as competitors. A few months ago, the companies agreed to conduct joint exploration of oil fields in the Arctic, while at the same time Russia will get an opportunity to extract oil from U.S. oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico and in Texas.