Russian State Oil Company Rosneft, in Sudden Move, Sells Assets in Venezuela

[Anon-C]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/28/world/americas/venezuela-rosneft-oil.html

Russian State Oil Company Rosneft, in Sudden Move, Sells Assets in Venezuela
The U.S. had imposed sanctions on two Rosneft oil trading subsidiaries this year for helping Venezuela’s authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro.

By Anatoly Kurmanaev and Clifford Krauss
March 28, 2020, 3:25 p.m. ET

CARACAS, Venezuela — The Russian state-controlled oil firm Rosneft said Saturday it was ceasing operations in Venezuela and selling all of its assets in the country, a sudden move that could damage Venezuela’s already collapsing economy.

The United States had imposed sanctions on two Rosneft oil trading subsidiaries this year for helping Venezuela’s authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, stay in power. Those sanctions have hurt the company’s business elsewhere in the world.

By late 2019, Rosneft had emerged as the biggest economic ally of Mr. Maduro, accounting for up to two-thirds of the country’s oil trade and a significant share of crude production. The lifeline provided by Rosneft has allowed Mr. Maduro to maintain a flow of hard currency and supply the country with gasoline.

In a statement, Rosneft said it had agreed to sell its Venezuelan assets to an unnamed company that it described as wholly owned by the Russian government.

[ret5hd]

1. So the Russian govt sold it to itself.

Makes sense.

[Karadeniz]

2. I wish we'd never started to take charge of Venezuela...

[dalton99a]

3. What a load of bullshit