A giant company announced to the United States that it wants to buy Lukoil's assets abroad, including those in Romania
Abu Dhabi investment giant International Holding Company (IHC) has informed the US Treasury that it is interested in buying the foreign assets of Russian oil group Lukoil under US sanctions, the company told Reuters. Romania's Lukoil refinery, Petrotel, has been under US sanctions since Friday.
IHC, an Abu Dhabi conglomerate run by a key member of the United Arab Emirates' ruling family, joins a growing list of potential bidders for Lukoil's global assets that includes oil majors ExxonMobil and Chevron, as well as US private equity firm Carlyle.
Lukoil's international assets went up for sale after the US imposed sanctions on the company. Washington rejected the approach of a potential buyer of Swiss commodities trader Gunvor, opening the way for other companies.
They have until December 13 to talk with Lukoil, and US approval will be required for certain transactions.
Asked if IHC had notified the US Treasury of its interest in Lukoil's foreign assets, IHC replied: “Yes, we have expressed our interest in Lukoil's foreign assets.” The company made no further statements.
Lukoil is in big trouble because of the sanctions
Last month, the US imposed sanctions on Russia's two biggest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, as Washington sought to pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.
Since the sanctions were imposed, Lukoil has faced increasing disruptions to its foreign assets, which account for about 0.5 percent of global oil production.
Lukoil owns three refineries in Europe (including Petrotel in Romania and a large one in Burgas, Bulgaria), stakes in oil fields in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Mexico, Ghana, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria, as well as hundreds of fueling stations around the world, including in the United States.
IHC has a wide range of businesses, including healthcare, energy, real estate, agriculture and mining, with global investments in the US, India, Latin America and Africa.
IHC, Abu Dhabi's largest listed company, is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE president's brother and national security adviser, who is also the head of two of the emirate's sovereign wealth funds. IHC is 61.2 percent owned by Royal Group, a private investment firm owned by Sheikh Tahnoon.
What happens to the assets of the Russian company in Romania
US sanctions entered into force on Friday, starting at 19.00, regarding the Petrotel – Lukoil refinery, government sources told HotNews.
In the case of gas stations, the sanctions apply starting from December 13. What these sanctions actually mean is not clear, given that the Government does not provide much information on this subject.
Asked about the situation of the refinery, the president Nicușor Dan declared, at lunch on Friday, that “nothing dramatic will happen” in the coming weeks.
For several weeks, the Petrotel refinery has been under maintenance, which means that it is not working during this period anyway. The entry into force of the sanctions means that payments related to the refinery are blocked. There is no information about what is happening to the approximately 500 Petrotel employees.
Starting next week, Romania will have its own sanctions mechanism for Lukoil. What Bolojan says about the Petrotel refinery
In Romania, Lukoil's most important assets are the Petrotel-Lukoil refinery and the Lukoil Romania network, with approximately 320 distribution stations, both of which are owned by Litasco, based in Switzerland.
It also owns the company Litasco SA Geneva Sucursala Bucharest, which deals with the wholesale trade of fuels.
It also has an 87% stake in the Trident perimeter in the Black Sea, for gas exploration, together with the Romgaz company.
The fate of these assets is uncertain due to US sanctions.
