Rosneft Successfully Closes Strategic Deal for the Acquisition of 49% of Essar Oil Limited

Saudi Aramco today signed agreements with major U.S. companies which will pave way for the company to enhance its business synergy with the U.S. as well as attracting investments from its U.S. counterparts to the Kingdom.

Rosneft and Eni S.p.A. entered into a Cooperation extension agreement in the areas of upstream, refining, marketing and trading during the visit of an Italian delegation to Russia. The document was signed by Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin and Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

Refining of crude oil into fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel has for years been the industry's problem child, having to grapple with weak and volatile profit margins as well as competition from modern refineries built in China, India and the Middle East.

Pakistan's economy expanded 4.2% in 2016, foreign investment has continued to grow -- attracted by the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project -- and improvements in the country's security front, following the government's efforts to combat terrorism, have also led to economic gains and additional investment.

The LUKOIL Group oil production for the fourth quarter and twelve months of 2016 was 22.7 and 92.0 million tonnes, respectively. Production for the fourth quarter excluding compensation crude oil from West Qurna-2 project in Iraq increased by 2.5% compared to the third quarter of 2016.

Saudi oil giant Aramco IPO-ARMO.SE will buy an equity stake in Malaysian firm Petronas' refining and petrochemicals project in the southeast Asian country, the companies confirmed on Tuesday, investing a total of $7 billion.

China is the global leader in methanol use and has recently expanded methanol production capacity. Since the early 2000s, China’s methanol consumption in fuel products has risen sharply and is estimated to have been more than 500,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 2016.

Gazprom and CNPC broadening strategic cooperation in energy sector

The country imported 34.03 million mt of crude in January, down 6.5% from the record high of 36.38 million mt in December despite surging 27.5% on the year.

Global oil and gas deal activity in 2016 recovered from a slow start to the year with help from the announcements of midstream and oilfield services (OFS) megadeals. Deal value increased in 2016 to US$395 billion from US$340 billion in 2015, while deal volume fell by 27% year-on-year.

Russia's output of oil products is expected to fall by about 2.5 percent in 2017 due to further work on a massive refinery modernisation programme aimed at boosting fuel quality, a deputy energy minister said.

Rosneft and the China National Petrochemical Company (ChemChina) signed a Heads of Agreement on establishing a Joint Venture. The document was signed by Rosneft Chief Executive Officer Igor Sechin, and General Manager of ChemChina Yang Xingqiang.

Oil, gas and petrochemistry are major topics of economic discussions between Iranian and Indonesian officials during the Indonesian president visit to Iran.

Indian state-run oil refiners have called for Nigeria to increase its total term contract volumes next year by more than 20% as demand from the South Asian country climbs, an official from Nigeria's state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said.