U.S. giant is in talks with Yukos, Putin says

[Nottingham]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/21414...

U.S. giant is in talks with Yukos, Putin says
Reuters News Service
MOSCOW -- Russia's President Vladimir Putin said Russian oil major Yukos was talking to Exxon Mobil about selling a big portion of its stock to the United States oil giant, Kremlin officials said Monday.

"It is above all a company matter, but, of course, this could possibly be a very large deal. I think it would be right if preliminary consultations with the Russian government are held," Putin said.

It was the first official confirmation that negotiations between the two firms over a possible share deal, which have been rumored for weeks, were in fact taking place.

Irving-based Exxon Mobil is reported to be interested in buying up to 40 percent of Yukos, which completed a merger last week with smaller rival Sibneft.
more...

Maybe this is why Bush had Putin to Camp David!

[lindashaw]

1. And why Bush, Sr. and Kissinger went to Yukos?

[fshrink]

3. My thoughts as well. nt

.

[Zhade]

2. Hello, what's this?

From the Yukos corporate site "About Us" section:

Closer to home, YUKOS is expanding into offshore upstream through its participation in two projects. The first is the Caspian Oil Company joint venture with Lukoil and Gazprom to develop a portion of the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea, and the second is a joint venture signed in January 2002 with a subsidiary of French major TotalFinaElf to explore a deepwater area known as the Shatsky Ridge in the Russian section of the Black Sea.

So, ExxonMobil's moving on the Caspian basin project. Well, it was bound to happen.

Is there a crash-and-snatch attempt by Exxon to score Yukos on the cheap, aided by Putin, going on here?

Khodorkovsky has been reviled as one of the biggest sharks in Russia's chaotic transition from a planned economy. But with most leading businessmen having just as controversial climbs to wealth and power during the 1990s, analysts have said the legal attack on Khodorkovsky now appears to come in response to his moves to finance opposition parties for upcoming elections. They also have pointed to a fight for power between members of the old elite, which includes Khodorkovsky, and a group of hardliners that climbed the Kremlin ladder with President Vladimir Putin.

Seems ExxonMobil since at least 2001 has been confident in Putin staying in power for a while:

The head of Exxon-Mobil stressed that it was not the time-serving considerations but confidence in long-term political, economic and legal stability that was the main thing in the undertakings of this kind.

Anyone with good working knowledge on any of the principals in this scenario, lay it on us. I'm not very versed in that arena.

[Nottingham]

4. It looks like Lets Make a Deal!

Oil Oil Oil!!