For an industry that is supposed to be struggling to find cash and partners due to crippling western sanctions, Russia’s energy sector is showing few signs of feeling abandoned.
Six years after Rosneft marked a new high watermark in US-Russian corporate relations by agreeing a co-operation deal with ExxonMobil, the Kremlin-controlled oil company has found alternate support from the east. CEFC China Energy agreed last month to pay $9.1bn for a 14.16 per cent stake in Rosneft — and it is not the only Russian company to find new friends in China.
Chinese companies are snapping up stakes and signing joint venture agreements across Russia’s energy sector. And they have competition — Saudi Arabia’s new-found political friendship with Russia has started yielding corporate agreements, too.