Expert: Russia overtakes Saudi Arabia as world’s largest oil and fuel exporter

Russia has now overtaken Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil and fuel exporter. Meanwhile, the bubbling liquidity of Russian energy companies is fuelling a flurry of Merger and Acquisition (M&A) activity across all aspects of the energy sector from refining and transportation companies to downstream petrochemicals and gas station chains.

Dr Gil Feiler, in a lecture delivered at a recent international forum estimated that the international M&A market in 2005 in Russia grew at least 50% in comparison to 2004 and now stands at well over $50 billion. Feiler has been closely monitoring M&A developments within the Russia oil and gas sector since the fall of the Soviet Union. His estimates are in line with a report by Ernst and Young suggesting that Russian acquisitions abroad stood at over $10 billion for 2005 and are likely to reach $15 billion for 2006. The report outlined a total of 480 deals involving Russian companies were registered, up 64% from the previous year. The average deal to acquire a Russian company was worth some $87 million against $96 million in 2004.

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