Russian oil company Rosneft may focus more on Asia as it looks for new partners for exploration and production work in the arctic, a minister said Tuesday. With U.S. partner Exxon Mobil sitting on the sidelines because of sanctions imposed on the Russian energy sector, Russian Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoy said Rosneft will release new plans for the arctic before the end of the year. “China has announced its interest to the arctic,” he said. “I think Rosneft has to independently choose partners out of countries which have not sanctioned Russia, and therefore here will be the final choice.” In September, Rosneft estimated a discovery in the Prinovozemelskiy-1 license area in the Kara Sea holds at least 700 million barrels of oil. Russian energy interests have tilted toward […]