Fox News: “Russian oil giant Rosneft and Chinese state firm CNPC signed Friday a $270 billion deal to supply China with oil over 25 years as Russian President Vladimir Putin pushes to diversify the country’s energy customer base away from Europe.
The agreement between Russia, the world’s largest energy producer and China, the world’s largest energy consumer — one of the biggest deals in the history of world oil industry — was signed by Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin and CNPC head Zhou Jiping in the presence of Putin.
“An estimated value of the contract in current market parameters is absolutely unprecedented — 270 billion dollars,” Putin said in a speech to investors at the annual Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum after overseeing the signing of the deal together with visiting Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli.
Under the deal, the heavily-indebted Rosneft is slated to receive an upfront payment of around $70 billion, Putin said.
Under another deal, CNPC will acquire 20 percent in an Arctic liquified natural gas project in which France’s Total has 20 percent and Russian independent gas firm Novatek holds the rest.
Putin has made a priority of stabilising Russia’s sometimes prickly relations with its giant eastern neighbour at a time when its ties with the West are becoming ever more problematic.
Russia wants to diversify its base of energy customers away from crisis-hit Europe and is aware it has not fully exploited the colossal potential of Asian markets, China in particular.
“Consumption will be growing in China. And in Japan consumption will be growing, too,” Putin said. By contrast, he added: “Europe is going through some certain difficulties.””
via Russia, China sign ‘unprecedented’ $270 bn oil deal | Fox News.
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