Rosneft has signed an agreement with the company, which belongs entirely to the Russian government, to cease its operations and sell its stake in all Venezuelan projects.
The name of the purchasing company was never mentioned, but on the day when Rosneft left Venezuela, Rosimuschestvo established Roszarubezhneft with a Cap of 323 billion rubles. Presumably, Rosneft's Venezuelan assets were transferred to this company.
The top three leaders in oil production have not changed for many years: Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the USA, moreover, the United States has practically doubled its oil production in the past 10 years. Amid the growing influence of the US
in terms of oil, control over Venezuelan oil and gas automatically makes Russia
a super powerful oil and gas country.
Together, Russia, Iran and Venezuela would be able to control the oil market.
While Russia has been the leader in oil production among this informal union, Venezuela leads the way in terms of oil reserve volumes. Venezuelan oil reserves amount to 298.4 billion barrels! Iran
– 157.8 billion barrels, Russia
– 80 billion barrels. By controlling approximately 33% of global oil reserves, the informal alliance could be a very powerful force.
The deal is aimed at getting Rosneft out of harm's way. On February 18, 2020 the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Rosneft Trading, a subsidiary of Rosneft.
The sanction was imposed "for operating in the oil sector of the Venezuelan economy".
The American authorities accused the company of supplying oil from the country to foreign markets. Rosneft shifted Venezuelan oil exports to another subsidiary, TNK Trading International, however, sanctions were imposed against it as well. The US Treasury Department stressed that the restrictive measures would be lifted when the company takes concrete, tangible and verifiable actions. Rosneft now patiently waits for sanctions imposed against it to be lifted. On top of that, Russia's shift into Venezuela
does not mitigate the situation. Previously, if the U.S. authorities imposed sanctions against companies, how will sanctions against the Russian government be imposed?
