Sharjah gas deal shreds red tape - The National Newspaper

The new Sharjah gas exploration joint venture between the local enterprise Crescent Petroleum and Rosneft, the Russian state-controlled oil giant, has been just three months in the making, demonstrating that red tape can be cut quickly when regional priorities are at stake.

Talks between the seemingly odd couple began in early March, following a flurry of trade missions between the UAE and Russia, Badr Jafar, the executive director of the privately owned Crescent, said yesterday in an exclusive interview.

They moved quickly.