American giants in the game for Lukoil. Exxon and Chevron have an appetite for deposits in Iraq

Lukoil wants to sell its foreign assets in one package, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing sources from the Russian oil company. According to the agency, this may be difficult because potential buyers are interested only in certain areas of the activities of the giant subject to US sanctions.

Bloomberg reported that Lukoil's foreign assets attracted the interest of several potential buyers. Agency sources said that entities analyzing selected aspects of Lukoil's foreign business include American companies Exxon and Chevronwhich are interested in the Russian company's shares in the West Qurna-2 oil field in Iraq. Another candidate is Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, which is most interested in the Russian company's gas operations in Uzbekistan. At the same time, information appeared about other potential buyers of Lukoil's foreign assets. Reuters listed among them the American investment company Carlyle.

Meanwhile, Lukoil's management maintains its position that it wants to sell the company's foreign assets in one package before US sanctions come into force. According to Bloomberg journalists, this would only be possible in a two-stage process in which one entity, for example a financial company, takes over all Lukoil's foreign assets and then gradually resells them to interested buyers.

By imposing sanctions, the American authorities obliged the Russian oil company to sell its foreign assets by November 21. When Lukoil asked the US Department of Treasury (Ministry of Finance) to postpone this deadline, a new one was set for December 13.

After the United States imposed sanctions on Lukoil at the end of October, the company began looking for a buyer for its foreign assets. The company concluded an agreement with Gunvor, an oil trading company founded by Swedish businessman Torbjörn Törnqvist and Vladimir Putin's friend Gennady Timchenko. However, this agreement was not finalized because the US Treasury Department stated that “the Kremlin puppet Gunvor will never receive a license to operate and generate profits”; consequently, the company withdrew its offer to purchase Lukoil's assets.

Tomasz D. Jędruchów (PAP)

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