Rosneft expects in February to sign a deal with ExxonMobil on operating in North America, the Russian company’s chief Eduard Khudainatov told reporters.

Rosneft intends to sign a joint venture agreement and binding agreements to enter projects in North America.

“We’re already rounding off due diligence, I’m hoping it’ll be February,” Rosneft’s Eduard Khudainatov said.

“These are very complex projects. For us they are new projects. Working in the States requires an understanding of the geological conditions there, the economy, their market conditions,” he said.

“Deposits in Canada and the U.S. are complex, they are like shale gas. We’ve gone into these very deposits, to gain experience. You know they have a lot of heavy oils like the Bazhenov site,” he said.

British company BP is leaving the Sakhalin-5 project, which Rosneft will continue to develop on an independent basis, Rosneft’s president, Eduard Khudainatov, told journalists on December 26.

“We didn’t conceal this and have said that BP isn’t interested in the project. But we’re very interested. We won’t offer this to anybody else,” he said.

He also said that a final decision on BP’s departure from the project has already been made. “Technical issues only now remain. A decision has already been made,” Khudainatov said.

Khudainatov said that gas has been discovered at the project’s field. “We really need the gas for our projects, including the eastern petrochemical complex,” he added.

Rosneft’s president also said that the company is not in negotiations with ONGC for the Sakhalin-3 project.

Rosneft plans during Q1 2012 to select a partner for the Val Shatsky (Shatsky Ridge) offshore project in the Black Sea, Rosneft’s head Eduard Khudainatov told reporters.

“A new battle has started for Shatsky Ridge,” Khudainatov said, adding that ExxonMobil, Eni, Lukoil, and Gazprom Neft had shown an interest in it.

Rosneft and Chevron reached an agreement on the joint development of Val Shatsky in June 2010, but in March 2011 there were reports that the U.S. company might pull out of the project over differences concerning the geology of the field and the assessment of reserves.

Val Shatsky LLC, which Rosneft acquired in 2007 among other former assets of the bankrupt Yukos, holds the license to the Zapadno-Chyornomorskaya section. There have been ten or so structures identified at the license block, the biggest of which are Severo-Chyornomorskaya, Mariya, and Sklonovaya. Water depth at the sections is 1.2-2 kilometers. The Zapadno-Chyornomorskaya section borders Rosneft’s Tuapsinksy section.

Overall resources are estimated at 6.3 billion barrels of oil. Projected D2 hydrocarbon reserves at Val Shatsky are 1.456 billion tons of oil and 433 billion cubic meters of gas.

Total CEO Christophe de Margerie has said Total is considering joining Rosneft in the Val Shatsky project. Total and Rosneft are looking at various options for geological prospecting projects, and Val Shatsky is one of them, de Margerie said.

Rosneft will invest 798 billion roubles in the Vankor field’s development by 2037, the company’s president, Eduard Khudainatov, told journalists.

He added that the company plans to produce 18 million tons at the field in 2012. Production in 2013 should come to 25 million tons. “A five-year plateau is expected, but we’ll work on geological exploration. Our goal is to boost reserves as much as possible, and as much as we could effectively use,” Khudainatov said.

It was earlier reported that, the company needs over 700 billion roubles in investment for Vankor, counting the funds already invested. Rosneft later said that it plans to set aside 754 billion roubles in total investments.

Rosneft’s production subsidiary, CJSC Vankorneft, is developing the Vankor field. Vankor’s recoverable reserves are estimated at 524 million tons of oil and gas condensate, as well as 106 billion cubic meters of gas. The field started production in August 2009. Oil produced at the field is one of the key sources for filling the Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline.

OJSC Rosneft has sent a share buyback offer to minority shareholders in East Siberian Oil and Gas Company (VSNK), Rosneft’s president, Eduard Khudainatov, told journalists on December 26.

“We recently sent them an offer. I think that they should be able to accept our proposal by year’s end,” he said.

Khudainatov said that a plan for transporting Rosneft and Gazprom Neft’s oil from the region to Transneft’s system has yet to be put together.

“Transneft is working on becoming the organizer of the oil pipeline’s construction,” he said.

Khudainatov added that the rate for pumping oil via pipeline from the Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye zone should be factored into the period of return on investment.

Rosneft is still ready to guarantee the supply of 5 million tons of oil, but the company has not ruled out increasing total supply after it carries out geological exploration.

The first stage of Rosneft’s Tuapse refinery will cost just under 70 billion roubles to build, the company’s chief, Eduard Khudainatov, told reporters.

“The first stage is 69 billion roubles. We plan to commission the refinery in the summer of 2012,” Khudainatov said. He said the refinery’s capacity would be 12 million tons of crude. The second and third stages are being designed. Refining depth will eventually be 98.5%, and the Nelson index will be 11.

Rosneft intends to invest 600 billion roubles in refineries in the period of 2008-2015. The main tasks for modernization is ensuring fuel quality in line with technical requirements, improving production and output structure, and boosting efficiency at refineries. The plan foresees the construction of 30 new production units and the reconstruction of 20 existing units. As a result, Rosneft refineries should boost light petroleum output from 56% to 78%, while processing depth should go up from 64.4% to 96%. The refineries’ NCI (Nelson Complexity Index) will increase from 4 to over 7, while total annual refining should increase from 50 million tons to 58 million tons.

Rosneft plans to bring five production units on line this year. The key component is the delayed coking unit that is able to produce 1 million tons a year, which will be set up at the Komsomolsk Oil Refinery.