(Reuters) Dmitry Zhdannikov - Russia's Rosneft oil company has taken over ownership of Kurdistan's oil export pipelines to Turkey from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq in return for $1.8 billion. Rosneft has pledged to invest billions of dollars in Kurdistan, to the anger of the Baghdad government. Control of the pipelines has given Rosneft a central role in ongoing talks between the KRG and Baghdad aimed at resuming full oil exports, which were disrupted by the Iraqi seizure of key oilfields - Kurdistan's main source of income. Moscow's use of Rosneft as a tool of foreign policy has increased significantly over the past two decades under Putin's rule. In Venezuela, Rosneft lent $6 billion to support the government. The company could end up owning large Texan refineries, currently belonging to Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA, because the plants are collateral against the debt.
2018-04-23 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive