TNK-BP to sell crude, diesel delivered via Geneva arm

LONDON (Reuters) - Russian oil company TNK-BP will start selling crude and distillates on a delivered basis through a new Geneva trading office to open later this year, its head of downstream said on Tuesday.

TNK-BP, half-owned by British oil major BP PLC, sells all its export volumes through free-on-board (FOB) tenders but is seeking greater returns through sales on a delivered (CIF) basis, Didier Baudrand, executive vice president for downstream, said in London at an industry event.

"We'll probably do a mixture of continuing these FOB tenders and will look at better alternatives by selling these volumes CIF ourselves," Baudrand told Reuters in an interview. "Our traders in Geneva will look at these opportunities."

The Geneva office will have a staff of 70 and conduct the operations independently of BP, Baudrand said.

Even after BP's 2003 deal to pool Russian assets and obtain a stake in the No. 3 Russian producer, the British major has been a customer of TNK-BP on international markets.

BP last month announced an Arctic drilling deal and share swap with TNK-BP rival Rosneft, which is also opening a Geneva trade office, making it the third Russian company to announce such a move in recent months.

Sources say Rosneft's forthcoming Geneva operation is largely destined to manage crude supplies for the Ruhr Oel refining assets recently acquired by the Russian major, as well as its product output.

Bashneft, a midsized producer recently consolidated by the Sistema holding, is also opening a Swiss trading office.

The European trade in Russian crude and products has to date been dominated by majors and trading houses, taking the margin on delivered volumes.

(Reporting by Alexander Yershov and Gleb Gorodyankin; writing by Melissa Akin; editing by Maria Kiselyova)