UPDATE 1-Rosneft sells first Kozmino oil cargo to IPP

By Robin Paxton and Dmitry Zhdannikov

MOSCOW, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Finnish oil trader IPP Oy, once headed by Gunvor co-founder Gennady Timchenko, has beaten 14 other bids to win a tender called by state-run Rosneft for the first cargo from Russia's new oil port on the Pacific.

Rosneft, Russia's largest oil producer, sold the 100,000-tonne cargo, which will be loaded at the port of Kozmino on Dec. 27-29, at a premium of $0.5 per barrel to the regional benchmark Dubai crude, the company said on Monday.

Kozmino, the eastern terminus of the East Siberian-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline, has been heralded by Russia as the window through which crude from virgin East Siberian oilfields will be exported tax-free to Asia's energy-hungry economies.

Political leaders are expected to attend a tanker-loading ceremony at Kozmino next month, adding weight to Russia's ambitions of conquering Asian markets and reminding Western consumers that competition for its energy resources is rising.

Rosneft said in a statement that the price bid by IPP translated to a premium of $1.7 per barrel over Brent crude , based on oil prices throughout November.

Many of the competing bids, however, were at a discount to the Dubai benchmark, several traders told Reuters. Some traders said they had been concerned about the parameters of the crude on offer and the lack of any precedent for its pricing.

They said they had not heard of any concrete plans for a second cargo. Rosneft said in the statement that a regular pricing formula for oil from Kozmino would be finalised as export volumes grow.



WINNING BIDDER

Traders said IPP, the winning bidder, was better known for trading in refined products than crude oil. Several traders said the firm was affiliated either to Gunvor or its co-founder, Timchenko.

A London-based spokesman for Gunvor declined immediate comment on whether or not the company had any relation to IPP.

Switzerland-based Gunvor is the world's third-largest crude oil trader by volume and handles between 30 percent and 40 percent of Rosneft's oil exports, all of it through competitive tenders.

Timchenko was managing director of IPP Oy in Finland and IPP AB in Sweden between 1994 and 2001. He co-founded Gunvor in 1997.

Monthly production in excess of 10 million barrels per day has pushed Russia ahead of Saudi Arabia as the world's largest crude oil producer, as Riyadh persists with OPEC-agreed cuts.

Rosneft will be one of the main suppliers of oil via the pipeline after launching its major Vankor field in the Arctic in August. Vankor is expected to produce over 500,000 barrels a day when it reaches peak production in 2014.

TNK-BP, Russia's No. 3 oil producer, and fourth-ranked Surgutneftegaz could also became major suppliers from East Siberian fields that are expected to benefit from a zero export duty designed to attract investment.

Russia has long been seeking to diversify energy exports from the West amid often frosty relations with the European Union, though is also worried about becoming overly dependent on China.

A southward spur from the ESPO pipeline will carry the 300 million tonnes of oil that Rosneft and oil pipeline monopoly Transneft agreed to supply China over 20 years in exchange for a $25 billion loan.

(Additional reporting by Gleb Gorodyankin; editing by Sue Thomas) Keywords: ROSNEFT OIL/KOZMINO ([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.