A deal to combine three of Russia's biggest oil firms would create the biggest producer in the world after Saudi Aramco.

A spokesperson for the oil giant Rosneft has denied a report by The Wall Street Journal that the company is involved in any plans to merge Russia’s biggest oil producers into a “single national champion.

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.

Russian officials and business executives have held talks about merging the country’s biggest oil companies into a single producer, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The merger could also enable Russia to secure higher prices for Russian oil from key customers in India and China. The Wall Street Journal reported that discussions between execut

Russia is reportedly considering a plan to merge its top three oil companies — Rosneft, Gazprom Neft, and Lukoil — into a single energy giant that could rival Saudi Aramco, which is currently the world’s largest oil producer.