Whether investing in China, Venezuela or Iraq, Russian oil giant Rosneft closely follows Moscow’s geopolitical interests as the Kremlin-controlled company seeks to expand its nation’s influence, at times in unstable countries.
Headed by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ally Igor Sechin, Rosneft grew massively by acquiring the assets of Yukos Oil Co, whose founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky spent a decade in jail until his pardoning by Putin in 2013 on charges widely seen as punishment for his political ambitions.
Rosneft has since grown into a global oil giant with an output of more than 5 million barrels per day and a net worth of almost US$50 billion.
All the while, Rosneft has followed Russia’s political course, distancing itself from the West and turning instead toward large developing countries.
“Sechin is not just an economic leader,” said Nikolai Petrov, a professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow.
Sechin wants to “demonstrate that Rosneft is important and necessary, not only as one of the pillars of Russia’s economy, but also as a powerful tool for foreign policy,” Petrov said.
Although it floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2006 and has in the past partnered with Western giants such as the US’ ExxonMobil and Norway’s Statoil, Rosneft has more recently attracted attention by striking a deal to sell oil to China, purchasing Indian refiner Essar Oil and attracting investment from Qatar.
Hit by the Western sanctions imposed on Moscow in 2014 for Russia’s role in the Ukraine crisis, Rosneft does not hesitate to do business with turbulent countries where other foreign investors are wary.
This week Rosneft revealed that it has paid the authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan an advance of US$1.3 billion as part of production-sharing deals to tap the vast resources in the region.
The move angered Baghdad, which denounced the deal as a “blatant interference in Iraqi interior affairs,” as Iraqi authorities are battling a crisis in the region sparked by a Sept. 25 referendum on Kurdish independence.
“Just as [gas group] Gazprom exercises a real role in foreign policy towards Europe and China, Rosneft is responsible for other parts of foreign policy, such as Latin America,” Petrov said.
Rosneft this year has also signed deals with Libyan and Iranian state companies for investments and joint projects in the two countries.
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