Traders Vitol, Mercantile join Rosneft’s giant Vostok Oil project – Reuters

Traders Vitol, Mercantile join Rosneft’s giant Vostok Oil project – Reuters

Russia's Rosneft (ROSN.MM) has signed a heads of terms agreement on selling a 5% stake in Vostok Oil, a giant oil producing project, to a consortium of traders Vitol and Mercantile & Maritime, Rosneft said on Thursday.

Vostok Oil, in which global commodities trader Trafigura already has a 10% stake, is one of Russia's biggest oil projects, comparable in size with the exploration of West Siberia in the 1970s or the U.S. Bakken oil region over the past decade.

The deal is expected to be closed after the parties receive the required regulatory and corporate approvals.