Igor Sechin, Vladimir Putin’s right-hand man and boss of the world’s biggest publicly traded oil company, Rosneft, has railed against western sanctions and declared his company will slash investment this year by nearly a third.
The enormous reduction in spending follows huge cuts to plans from the other oil majors, totalling $65 billion (£42.25 billion) so far.
Last year, Rosneft — 20% owned by BP — invested $14 billion to $16 billion.
Sechin, pictured with Putin, right, told The Independent sanctions against Rosneft were “illegal and illegitimate”.
He predicted the oil price would remain volatile but could start to rise in the final quarter of this year amid growing demand in Asia.
If supply and demand balanced out, oil could rise to $60-$80 a barrel next year, he said.
BP got its 20% stake in the state-controlled oil behemoth when Rosneft bought its half-share of TNK-BP in the biggest oil takeover in history.
That deal completed in March 2013 when the oil price was above $100 a barrel.
