Eni, Rosneft Discussing Black Sea Partnership

Eni SpA

, Italy's largest oil company, and OAO Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producer, are reportedly in talks that would see the Italian oil giant replace Chevron

as Rosneft's partner on a project in the Black Sea. Chevron, the second-largest U.S. company, quit the project in June over concerns the Shatsky Ridge oilfield in the Black Sea held far less recoverable reserves than Rosneft projected. The Russian oil giant believes there are six billion barrels of recoverable reserves at Shatsky Ridge. Chevron also had misgivings about the commercial arrangements for the venture: Chevron would have had only a 33% stake in the operating company running the project, despite carrying all the exploration costs, according to the Wall Street Journal. Eni's potential financial exposure for the project has not been disclosed. The company been doing business in Russia since 2007. The Russian area of the Black Sea is believed to be one of the last great frontiers of untapped oil reserves in the world. In August, Exxon Mobil

, the largest U.S. oil company, announced a partnership with Rosneft that will see the two oil giants explore for oil in the Arctic area of the Black Sea.