On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree clearing the way for 'potential deals' with Rosneft and Shell's joint venture stake in Caspian Pipeline Consortium which exports oil mostly from Kazakhstan.

The decree stated that it "allowed" the transactions, which could?result? in ownership changes, at the CPC by Rosneft Shell Caspian Ventures Limited. The decree did not go into detail.

The?venture owns a 7.5% stake in CPC. Other international oil majors such as Chevron, Eni and Russia's second largest oil producer Lukoil also have shares.

In October, the United States imposed sanctions on?Rosneft & Lukoil over Russia's conflict in Ukraine. This forced Lukoil to declare its sale of foreign assets.

Rosneft is yet to announce any action in response to the sanctions. (Reporting and editing by Matthew Lewis.)

(source: Reuters)