Soyuzneftegaz increases Sterling stake

Russia’s Soyuzneftegaz Capital Limited has increased its stake in London-based Sterling Energy to 11.14%. Sterling has not commented on the holding, but executive chairman Alastair Beardsall and several of his team previously ran Emerald Energy, in which Soyuzneftegaz invested and which was sold to Sinochem in 2009. Headed by former Russian energy minister Yuri Shafranik, Soyuzneftegaz describes its strategy as identifying “promising projects at an early stage of their development.