The Petrotel Lukoil crisis. Although the Americans have waived the sanctions, the refinery remains closed and the deadline for restarting has expired. Why was no agreement reached?

Although it could provide 21% of the country's crude oil refining capacity, the Petrotel Lukoil refinery facilities remain shut down even though Romania obtained a waiver from the sanctions imposed by the Americans on Russia. The Ministry of Energy and the management of the private company with Russian shareholding have different views on this derogation.

• The Petrotel refinery is subject to direct sanctions imposed by the United States of America starting on November 21, 2025. The restrictive measures were applied by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) within the US Treasury, as part of the economic sanctions packages adopted in the context of the conflict in Ukraine.
• ​Due to these regulations, the parent company Lukoil and its subsidiary in Romania lost access to the financial system of the United States and to transactions in dollars, which led to the complete stoppage of production flows and refining activity from Ploiesti.

Exemption from Americans

On April 14, 2026, while on an official visit to the United States of America, the Minister of Energy at that time, Bogdan Ivan, publicly announced that Romania obtained a waiver from the American Government to allow the restart of the Petrotel Lukoil refinery within 45 days. The refinery was to produce diesel, gasoline and kerosene for the domestic market. Ivan specified then that the restart of the refinery is essential for the stabilization of the fuel market, representing 21% of the national production, and assured that in this process “not a single gram of Russian oil will reach Romania”.

However, the 45 days have expired for almost two weeks, and the refinery still hasn't been restarted. Asked by HotNews about the reasons why the refinery remained closed, representatives of the Ministry of Energy claim that the company's management refuses to restart the facilities without having a license from the American authorities.

Why Lukoil refuses to restart the facilities

The reason cited by Lukoil representatives is of a legal nature and interpretation of the texts issued by the American authorities. Representatives of Petrotel-Lukoil notified the Ministry of Energy that the clarification letter issued by OFAC on April 14 does not provide a sufficient degree of legal protection for the resumption of commercial and financial activity.

​Refiner management insists that in order to restart production without the risk of major collateral penalties, a formal license from OFAC is imperative, not just a letter of clarification or assurance.

For this purpose, on May 14, 2026, Petrotel-Lukoil representatives sent an official address to the Ministry of Energy, a document that was redirected by the Romanian authorities to the government partners in the United States, in order to obtain the document requested by the company.

The Ministry of Energy believes that the letter sent by OFAC on April 14 “constitutes a sufficient clarification for the owners of Petrotel-Lukoil, in the sense that they would not be exposed to the risk of sanctions.”

According to the Ministry of Energy, “representatives of Petrotel-Lukoil insisted that the agreement expressed by OFAC was not sufficient and that they would need an OFAC license. In this regard, representatives of Petrotel-Lukoil sent a letter on May 14 to the Ministry of Energy, a document that was communicated to the American partners.”

The company is contradicted by the Ministry of Energy

However, the Ministry of Energy contradicts the company's claims and considers the OFAC letter to be sufficient clarification for the resumption of activity.

Following a request sent by HotNews regarding the status of the project and the documents substantiating the statements from the spring, the Ministry of Energy specified that the steps to obtain a temporary exemption from the sanctions of the US Treasury were determined by the risks that the conflict in Iran generates on the global supply of petroleum products and the volatility of international prices.

The Ministry confirms that OFAC sent an official letter regarding the Petrotel-Lukoil situation on April 14, 2026. According to the official response, this agreement aimed to resume the refinery's activity for a period of more than six months, setting a deadline of October 29, 2026.

​The Ministry of Energy claims that the document issued by the US Treasury represents a sufficient legal and safety basis. “The Ministry of Energy appreciates that the letter sent by OFAC on April 14 constitutes sufficient clarification for the owners of Petrotel-Lukoil, in the sense that they would not be exposed to the risk of sanctions.”

The representatives of the institution also said that, from a legal point of view, the state authorities do not have the power to impose the resumption of operations. “According to the legal powers, the Ministry of Energy does not have the competence to decide the resumption of the activity of a refinery belonging to a private economic operator.”

However, the ministry says it still supports the resumption of activity and has implemented specific measures, including the appointment of a supervisor of the operations of Lukoil's subsidiaries in Romania to facilitate the process.

Accusations from AUR

​The delay in restarting the refinery has also become a subject of political dispute. AUR Senator Petrișor Peiu recently published on his Facebook account the OFAC letter from April, accusing the current Government led by Ilie Bolojan of artificially blocking the activity of the refinery.

The parliamentarian claims that the American document clearly confirms the possibility for Romania to reopen the refinery without fear of sanctions and demands public explanations for the two months of inactivity that have passed since the letter was issued.

It raised questions about the economic interests behind keeping the refinery closed, citing production losses and fuel imports covering Petrotel's market share, given that the state has already appointed Lukoil's supervisory board and has operational control over the network's assets and 321 gas stations.

Nobody wanted to buy it

US sanctions against Lukoil and Rosneft took effect on November 21, 2025 to pressure Moscow to accept a peace deal with Ukraine.

The Petrotel Ploiești refinery was for sale for almost ten years, but the investors were not interested. One of the causes is the fact that the refinery has outdated facilities and requires very large investments, an oil specialist explained to HotNews.