 Mr Abramovich is withdrawing investments from Russia |
Total has the Kremlin's backing to acquire a 25% stake in the Sibneft oil group of Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich, say reports. If Russia keeps its share, Total will effectively nudge ChevronTexaco and ExxonMobil from key reserves, the Financial Times and Les Echos report.
Washington has reacted angrily to the deal, according to the FT.
President George W Bush is keen to secure Russian oil in his search to find alternative energy sources to the Middle East.
Abramovich exit
"Those in the US administration who have heard [about the agreement] are extremely annoyed," a Washington attorney specialist told the FT.
The quarter share is allegedly worth about $4bn (�2.3bn).
The Russian oil sector has become far more attractive in the past couple of years, after sustained high crude prices and an improvement in the operating environment under President Vladimir Putin.
Total is refusing to comment on the report.
A merger worth $11bn between another Russian oil company Yukos and Sibneft collapsed last year following the arrest of Yukos owner and tycoon, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, on charges of fraud and tax evasion.
Mr Abramovich has been intending to sell half of his 92% stake in Sibneft to a foreign energy group, when he gets it back from Yukos, analysts say.
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