Russia: Rosneft, Exxon Have Long-Term Pact

Russian First Deputy Natural Resources Minister Denis Khramov said on Monday that partnership between Russia's Rosneft and U.S. firm ExxonMobil was "long-term".

"I don't think that currently... there is a search to replace Exxon," he told reporters when asked about the talks between Rosneft and Chinese firms on their possible participation in Rosneft's offshore Arctic projects.

Rosneft has suspended drilling in Arctic Kara Sea in 2014 after Exxon withdrew from the project because of Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.

Reporting by Olesya Astakhova