Russia plans to merge its three largest oil companies into a single giant, reports the "Wall Street Journal." This operation is expected to create the second-largest oil company in the world. Kremlin representatives do not confirm this information.

The resulting company would be the world’s second-largest crude producer, behind Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, and would pump almost three times the output of Exxon Mobil.

Russia is seeking to merge three major oil companies in a bid to create the world’s second-biggest crude oil producer, reports suggest. The combination of state-backed Rosneft Oil, Gazprom Neft and privately-owned Lukoil would be second to Saudi Arabia’s Aramco and pump almost three times US oil producer Exxon’s output,