Rosneft CEO says no damage if BP sells stake

MOSCOW, June 17 (Reuters) - Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft (ROSN.MM) said on Thursday that if BP (BP.L) decides to sell its minority stake in Rosneft, it will not inflict any economic damage on the Russian company.

"There won't be any economic damage if they need to leave," Rosneft President Sergei Bogdanchikov said in a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Russia's Energy Minister, attending the St Petersburg Economic Forum, said he has not heard anything about a sale of Rosneft shares from BP, which plans to sell $10 billion worth of global assets following its oil spill in the Gulf.

Bogdanchikov also said Rosneft was in talks with LUKOIL (LKOH.MM) to acquire a 5.65 percent stake in Russia's only privately operated pipeline, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium.

LUKOIL owns 12.5 percent in the consortium through its subsidiary Lukarco. Rosneft already indirectly owns 3.83 percent through a joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L).

At the meeting in Moscow, Chevron CEO John Watson signed an agreement to jointly develop Rosneft's Val Shatskovo oil field in Black Sea, also known as Shatsky Ridge, while asking Putin to consider tax breaks for the project.

"It is a highly prospective area, it has geological risks and high costs. We will need to work with the government to ensure that a proper fiscal regime is in place," Watson said. (Reporting by Gleb Bryanski writing by Jessica Bachman; editing by Maria Kiselyova)