Rosneft, Pietro Barbaro to Jointly Enter Global Oil Shipping Markets

A new giant Russian oil shipping organization could come into existance in 2016. 

Russian oil producer Rosneft and tanker company Pietro Barbaro S.p.A. Friday announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the intention of creating a joint venture to enter the international shipping industry.

The signed document envisages "an alliance in the area of international shipping of oil and oil products," according to a press release.

"We are glad about the effective extension of the cooperation with Pietro Barbaro: following our partnership in Russia, we are planning a joint approach to global markets. The Joint Venture will allow significantly boosting the efficiency of our logistics division; create additional marketing opportunities for our products in high-margin markets," said Igor Sechin, Chairman of the Management Board of Rosneft. 

The deal would see Rosneft, a massive oil producer and refiner, come together with Pietro Barbaro, owner of a large tanker fleet with experience in hydrocarbon logistics and storage, to create a "synergistic" alliance in the area of international shipping of oil and oil products.

"We shall put at the disposal of the Joint Venture our know-how and our passion for logistics. We are honoured and very proud to contribute to create value in this sector taking in consideration the potential of such a great company as Rosneft," said Giovanni Barbaro, Pietro Barbaro group owner.

On September 1 2015, Rosneft, Sberbank Investments and Pietro Barbaro S.p.A. closed a deal involving the Russian Federation assets of Pietro Barbaro Group, a company known as Prime Shipping. 

The parties expect expect the legally binding documents will be signed within 2016.

In May of 2014 Ship & Bunker reported on the Rosneft acquisition of Prime Shipping.