* Rosneft postponed second well drilling from 2015
* First well drilled with help of ExxonMobil
* Sources say work unlikely to resume before 2018
* Sechin promises to keep output stable in 2015-2017 (Adds details, quotes, background, combines stories)
By Vladimir Soldatkin and Denis Pinchuk
ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 17 (Reuters) - Rosneft is working on schedule in the Arctic Kara Sea, where it drilledthe first well last year, CEO Igor Sechin said, but declined tosay when it would resume operations in the area seen as Russia'snext oil province.
Sources told Reuters last week that the state oil producer would be forced to postpone drilling a second well in the Karafor at least two more years, a result of Western sanctions onRussia over the Ukraine crisis.
Rosneft, the world's top listed oil firm by output, drilleda first exploration well known as Universitetskaya-1 last yearin the Kara Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean, with the help of U.S.partner ExxonMobil which provided the rig.
Sechin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, onWednesday declined to say when the second well would be drilled.
"No projects have been derailed. Let's not aggravate thesituation around the offshore," Sechin said, when asked onresuming work there.
"I am telling you once again - let's not run ahead ofourselves... Sometimes adjustments are needed but this is notlinked to anything."
Rosneft, in which BP owns almost a 20 percent stake, had already delayed the drilling of the second well from 2015,after it failed to find a rig on time. It had said that thefirst well held light oil and that the field could hold 130million tonnes of technically recoverable oil reserves.
EXXON'S PARTNERSHIP
Exxon, whose CEO is not among participants listed on thewebsite of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum due tostart on Thursday, is a leading shareholder with anotherproject, Sakhalin-1, in which Rosneft also has a stake.
In April, Exxon lodged a claim against Russia at theStockholm arbitrage court as part of a tax dispute overSakhalin-1.
Exxon believed it had overpaid taxes on profits fromSakhalin-1, in which it owns a 30 percent stake, and was seekinga tax cut and reimbursement of some taxes already paid,according to local media.
Sechin said he hoped an amicable settlement will be foundand the dispute will not affect relations between the partners,including with the Russian government, or the project itself.
"Exxon is defending the project's interests in general, weare part of this project... This (Exxon's suit) was a forcedposition as it is obliged to defend (Sakhalin-1) shareholders,the economic regime of the project," Sechin said.
Russia reduced the profit tax in 2009 to 20 percent forproduction-sharing agreements such as Exxon's Sakhalin-1 butExxon continued to pay at an earlier rate of 35 percent afterthe project broke even in 2008.
Other participants in Sakhalin-1, which is operated under aproduction sharing agreement, are Japan's Sodeco and India'sONGC.
Earlier on Wednesday, Sechin told Rosneft shareholders atthe company's annual general meeting that it planned to keep itshydrocarbon production stable in 2015-2017.
"The business plan envisages a stable production level in2015-2017 with the potential for an increase of 2 percent ifmarket conditions are favourable," Sechin said, withoutelaborating.
Sechin added that Rosneft planned to produce 252 milliontonnes of oil equivalent this year. He did not give a breakdownfor oil and gas.
In 2014, Rosneft oil production reached 205 million tonnes(4.1 million barrels per day), compared to 4.2 million barrelsper day in 2013.
Speaking in St Petersburg, Sechin said Rosneft planned toinvest 300-350 billion roubles ($5.6-$6.5 billion) into newlarge upstream projects in 2015-2017.
Rosneft planned to ship around 40 percent of its exports toAsia by 2019, Sechin also said. ($1 = 54.0550 roubles) (Writing by Katya Golubkova, editing by William Hardy)
BP (BP.)
