Yukos Says 'No' to Foreign Partnership

Once the darling of the world's biggest oil companies, Russian oil major Yukos now rules out a strategic alliance with a foreign partner. "I don't see any synergy in such a move," Yukos president Simon Kukes said. Kukes believes cooperation among domestic players will instead become a lot more important over the next few years, particularly in East Siberia.

Kukes used to head Tyumen Oil Co. (TNK), which forged a joint venture with BP last year, but he says the situation was different. "The two companies had oil fields in Western Siberia located next to each other, and [there ] was a lot of sense in uniting them," he adds. In any case, the Kremlin-backed crackdown on Yukos would be a big deterrent to any potential foreign partner. The natural resources ministry is now probing the Russian oil company's adherence to its oil field licenses .