Rosneft, Russia’s biggest oil company, denied reports that it had any intention of taking over a major chunk of the Russian oil sector, and said such reports were a attempt to cast its chief, Igor Sechin, as a wicked influence.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia is working on a plan to merge Rosneft, which already accounts for 40% of Russia’s total oil production, with Gazprom Neft SIBN.MM and Lukoil LKOH.MM, in what would create one of the world’s most powerful oil companies.

Rosneft issued a statement on the reports which it called a “false flag” and said the reports cast CEO Sechin as “Evil Sechin” and falsely intimated “Igor Sechin’s insidious intentions”.

“The alleged intentions having nothing to do with reality” and did not follow “any reasonable business logic”, Rosneft said.

Sechin, who speaks fluent Portugese and French, worked alongside Vladimir Putin for many years – both before Putin rose to the presidency and afterwards.

One of the most powerful men in Russia’s vast energy sector, Sechin has served as CEO of Rosneft since May 2012.

During his tenure Rosneft grew into the world’s largest publicly-listed oil producer by volumes before Saudi Aramco first entered public markets in 2019, accounting for around 4% of global oil output.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)