Rosneft said Thursday that it has agreed to open a research and development center focusing on petrochemicals and shipbuilding technology in Qatar, following several meetings between Russian and Qatari officials this week. The move is the latest sign that Russian companies are expanding bilateral cooperation with OPEC member countries following the OPEC/non-OPEC crude oil production cut deal. Many of these agreements could outlast that deal. To date Rosneft’s key cooperation with Qatar has been the Qatar Investment Authority’s stake in Rosneft. QIA and Glencore agreed to buy a 19.5% stake in Rosneft in late 2016. Less than a year later China’s CEFC agreed to buy a 14.16% stake in the consortium, but this deal has yet to be completed. There has recently been speculation that this deal may be jeopardized by an investigation into CEFC’s chairman for economic crimes in China. Glencore previously said it was planning to close […]