Rosneft and Trafigura to enter into export deal

Russia

MOSCOW, March 17, 2015 – Reuters reported on Monday that Russia’s majority-owned Rosneft is negotiating a deal with Swiss trading house Trafigura to handle Russian oil exports.

Under the agreement, Trafigura will begin exporting about 1 million tonnes of oil in more than 12 tankers each month, beginning in April. That amount represents about one-tenth of Russia’s total oil exports.

The deal comes at a time when Russian oil companies are feeling downward pressure from a significant devaluation of the rouble and falling oil prices. Rosneft has been seeking capital to meet its debt payments to Western banks, and had been given short-term financing from Trafigura in February in exchange for increased oil cargoes.

It is unclear whether or not this new deal will include more short-term financing to ease Rosneft’s debt obligations. Major oil traders Glencore and Vitol will lose out on cargo volumes, as Rosneft increases its sales to Trafigura.

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