Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft and Italian energy company Eni have signed an agreement to broaden cooperation, including in possible joint oil product supplies to Egypt, Rosneft said on Wednesday. The deal was signed as part of Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni's visit to Russia, during which he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Rosneft said the agreement calls for expanded cooperation in hydrocarbon production, refining, marketing and trading, including in the Egyptian Zohr offshore project, where Eni controls 50 percent, Rosneft owns up to 35 percent and BP - up to 15 percent. Rosneft also said it had agreed with Eni to look into cooperation in oil refining in Germany. Eni has been operating in Egypt since 1954 through its subsidiary International Egyptian Oil Company (IEOC). In August 2015, Eni made a major natural gas discovery at the Zohr site off Egypt's Mediterranean coast. Zohr is the largest natural gas field ever found in the Mediterranean Sea, with an estimated 850 billion cubic metres of gas. Last December, Rosneft agreed to acquire a 30-percent share of the Shorouk concession, which contains the Zohr gas field. New natural gas discoveries in Egypt recently encouraged the government to defer several import deals.
