Russia's Rosneft to Clear India’s Oil Debt to Iran
Russian oil major Rosneft will settle about €2bn in owed payments for Iranian oil after purchasing a 98.26 percent stake in India’s Essar Oil.
Kremlin-controlled Rosneft (ROSN.MM) and its partners, global trader Trafigura and Russian fund UCP, purchased a 98.26 percent stake in Essar Oil in a deal announced in October. The rest of Essar will be held by retail investors.
Essar Oil's new owners will repay $600 million of the debt it is taking on to Indian lenders, and will also settle over 2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) owed to Iran for past oil purchases, Reuters reported.
"(Rosneft) has entered the high-potential and fast-growing Asia Pacific market," Rosneft’s Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin said in a statement.
The deal will enable Rosneft to improve the efficiency of fuel supplies to other nations in Asia, he added.
India's oil demand is expected to rise by an average of 5.9 percent a year through 2020, among the fastest in the world, according to a report last month by Goldman Sachs.
