“This is something of a seasonal story but this year appearsto have much greater credibility,” he added. Alexander Razyvayev from Gallion Capital said one of theoptions discussed was Rosneft issuing 25 percent in new capitaland Surgut spending its entire cash pile to buy it. Bogdanchikov said, however, that no new share issue wasplanned for purchase by Surgut. COST CUTS, DEBT Bogdanchikov looked confident on Friday as he and Sechingave upbeat speeches on Rosneft’s performance saying heavy debtwas being refinanced and cost were being cut.

“In 2008 some $16 billion in debts have been refinanced andpartly repaid, in the first half of this year it was $7 billion.The company feels confident,” Sechin, told a gathering of some740 shareholders. Sechin, one of the closest allies of powerful Prime MinisterVladimir Putin, also said Bogdanov becoming a director would notimply a conflict of interest. He also promised Surgut state support in its fight withHungarian energy firm MOL MOLB.MM, in which Surgut bought a 21percent stake for 1.4 billion euros ($2.0 billion) earlier thisyear, earning the ire of MOL and Hungary’s government.[ID:nL41038469] Bogdanchikov said Rosneft had approved a plan to cut costsby 18 billion roubles ($579 million) as part of an anti-crisisprogramme, but did not say if he referred to 2009 or beyond. “2009 will become a year of growth for our firm despite thecrisis,” Bogdanchikov said, promising modest oil output growththis year, robust growth in 2010 and ruling out staff cuts.

He also said Rosneft may partner with Italy’s ENI (ENI.MI)as it seeks to expand its presence in Africa. Rosneft has over 138,000 shareholders, with the state owning75-percent and oil major BP (BP.L), Russian state bank VEB andChinese CNPC being among the biggest private investors. Rosneft became Russia’s most indebted oil firm afterborrowing heavily since 2005 to acquire the assets of bankruptoil firm YUKOS at state-forced auctions. The global credit crunch made it difficult for Rosneft torefinance debts but the firm found a way out by persuading Chinato lend it $15 billion in exchange for 20 years of supplies viaa new pipeline, which will be commissioned next year. Rosneft’s vice-president Sergei Makarov told reportersRosneft has already obtained $5 billion of that loan and hopedto get a further $5 billion before October. ($1=31.09 Rouble) ($1=.7183 Euro) (Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by David Jones andVictoria Bryan) China Russia.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Low gasoline prices and rising optimism about the economy boosted U.S driving in April, marking the first monthly rise in U.S highway travel since December 2007, the U.S Transportation Department said on Friday U.S.U.S. highway travel was up 0.6 percent in April, rising 1.4 billion miles to 249.5 billion miles.April’s increase followed 16 consecutive months of declines in highway travel as high fuel prices and the weak economy took its toll on American driving habits.Recent government data, however, suggests that parts of the U.S. economy may be starting to improve.”By and large (the rise in highway travel) is an indication of some increased confidence on the part of the consumer that is encouraging them to drive a bit more,” said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Illinois.He cautioned against reading too much into one month’s data, however. He said rising gasoline prices may once again put a dent in gasoline consumption.U.S. gasoline prices hit record levels above $4 a gallon last summer before plummeting below $2 a gallon earlier this year.