Rosneft to buy at least 6 million tonnes of oil for $2 billion in 2019

[December 28, 2018]  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft <ROSN.MM> will buy around 6 million tonnes of oil worth over $2 billion from domestic producers next year, according to an announcement on a state-owned website for purchases of companies' needs.

Employees leave after a working shift at the Achinsk refinery, which was acquired by Rosneft company in 2007 and currently processes West Siberian crude delivered via the Transneft pipeline system, in Krasnoyarsk Region, Russia July 23, 2018. Picture taken July 23, 2018. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin

According to the website, Rosneft will buy 5.14 million tonnes of oil worth 132.5 billion roubles ($1.9 billion) from Gazprom Neft <SIBN.MM>.

The price works out at around $46 per barrel compared to a current price of Russian Urals crude blend of $51 per barrel.

Rosneft's total oil production is seen at 241 million tonnes of oil (4.82 million barrels per day) next year.

Rosneft has not disclosed its oil purchases for the whole 2018.

Rosneft said, in an emailed response to a request for a comment, that the purchases will allow it to cut transportation costs and are "usual practice in the oil industry".

(Reporting by Rinat Sagdiev and Olesya Astakhova; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

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