SOCHI, Russia: Igor Sechin, the head of Russia’s state-controlled and largest oil producer Rosneft , said on Thursday the company was working on a new strategy to counter the challenges of the global oil market and planned to pay higher 2017 dividends.
Oil producers around the world have faced highly volatile oil markets and declining prices due to a supply glut.
Sechin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, told the company’s annual general meeting that global markets were undergoing “tectonic shifts” shown by tougher competition, regulatory changes and higher risks for oil producers.
He said Rosneft, in which BP owns around 20 percent, was working on a new strategy to tackle those issues.
“The basis for this strategy should be high-quality changes in the company’s business, thanks to a technological breakthrough,” he said adding the strategy should be ready by the year-end.
He also said part of the strategy, called Rosneft-2022, would be a shift to a holding structure in Rosneft’s management, and would aim to unbundle the retail business and increase petrochemicals’ share of the company’s total refining capacity to 20 percent.
Within this strategy, Rosneft plans organic oil production growth of 20-30 million tons in the next five years thanks to new technologies. Last year, Rosneft produced 210 million tons of oil (4.2 million barrels per day).
Sechin also said Rosneft had budgeted for an average oil price of $40 per barrel in 2018 and a little over $40 for 2017.
Rosneft, controlled by state-owned Rosneftegaz holding, decided to pay 35 percent of its net income as dividends on 2016 results. The government, which is battling a budget deficit mainly due to falling oil prices, has ordered state companies to pay 50 percent of earnings in dividends.
Highly indebted Rosneft, which has been on a buying spree for the past few years to become the world’s largest oil producer by output, had fought off the order. However, earlier this week Putin told Sechin to increase the payout.
“We support this decision,” said Sechin, referring to paying 50 percent of its net profit in dividends starting from 2017. Rosneft pays dividends twice a year.
Among the assets, which Rosneft recently acquired, is India’s Essar Oil. The completion of the deal had been held up by Essar’s creditors.
Sechin said the deal was now practically completed after a legally binding deal was signed on Wednesday.
Russia’s Rosneft works on new strategy, plans to hike dividends
Russia’s Rosneft works on new strategy, plans to hike dividends
Egypt-born Dina Powell McCormick appointed Meta president and vice chairman
- The former Goldman Sachs partner and White House official previously served on Meta’s board of directors
- Powell McCormick, who was born in Cairo and moved to the US as a child, joins the management team and will help guide overall strategy and execution
LONDON: Meta has appointed Egypt-born Dina Powell McCormick as its new president and vice chairman.
The company said on Monday that the former Goldman Sachs partner and White House official, who previously served on Meta’s board of directors, is stepping up into a senior leadership role as the company accelerates its push into artificial intelligence and global infrastructure.
Powell McCormick, who was born in Cairo and moved to the US as a young girl, will join the management team and help guide its overall strategy and execution. She will work closely with Meta’s Compute and infrastructure teams, the company said, overseeing multi-billion-dollar investments in data centers, energy systems and global connectivity, while building new strategic capital partnerships.
“Dina’s experience at the highest levels of global finance, combined with her deep relationships around the world, makes her uniquely suited to help Meta manage this next phase of growth as the company’s president and vice chairman,” Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.
Powell McCormick has more than 25 years of experience in finance, national security and economic development. She spent 16 years as a partner at Goldman Sachs in senior leadership roles, and served two US presidents, including stints as deputy national security adviser to Donald Trump, and a senior State Department official under George W. Bush.
Most recently, she was vice chair and president of global client services at merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners.
