Russian oil major Rosneft and its partners, including global trader Trafigura and Russian fund UCP, in August closed a deal to acquire a 98.3% stake in Essar Oil for $12.9 billion, giving the consortium a foothold in Asia and securing a new outlet for its oil, according to Financial Tribune. Essar Oil’s imports from Iran in October were about 88% higher than the previous month, the data showed. During January to October, the refiner received about 20% less oil from Iran at about 140,000 bpd, the data showed.