Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Geneva-based metals, minerals and energy trader and producer Glencore – in which QIA-owned investment house Qatar Holding is the largest shareholder with 9.25% – have surprised the petroleum industry with a €10.5bn ($11.3bn) deal to buy 19.5% of the equity of Russian oil giant Rosneft.
The agreement completes a partial privatization of Rosneft, with the Russian state retaining the majority of shares of around 60%, and existing shareholder BP keeping its 19.75%. Rosneft also has a number of private investors, but their total shareholding is less than 0.4%. The deal was finalized despite US and EU sanctions against Rosneft, whose current oil output is over 4mn b/d. (CONTINUED - 1013 WORDS)
