US Paves Way For Talks On Lukoil’s Assets Sale In Nigeria, Other Countries.

US Paves Way For Talks On Lukoil’s Assets Sale In Nigeria, Other Countries

Lukoil's international assets are estimated to be worth about $22 billion, based on 2024 filings.

The Trump administration on Friday gave clearance to potential buyers to talk to Russia’s Lukoil about buying its foreign assets in Nigeria and other countries.

The move will allow business dealings with Lukoil’s Burgas refinery after Bulgaria moved to seize the plant, according to a Reuters report.

Lukoil has three refineries in Europe, as well as stakes in oilfields in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Mexico, Ghana, Egypt, and Nigeria. It also has hundreds of retail fuel stations around the world, including in the United States.

Channels Television on Monday reported how the firm’s foreign assets face sanctions as a result of sanctions by the United States.

The U.S. last month imposed sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies, Lukoil, and Rosneft, for their help in financing Russia’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine. Lukoil has faced growing disruptions to its foreign assets, which account for about 0.5% of global oil production, since the sanctions were imposed.

The Treasury Department on Friday issued a set of licenses, one of which authorized companies to talk to Lukoil through December 13 about buying its foreign assets.

The U.S. will only authorise a transaction involving the sale of those assets if it completely severs ties with Lukoil and if the funds from that sale are placed into an escrow account that Lukoil cannot access as long as it is sanctioned.

The Treasury Department also allowed transactions until April 29, 2026, involving Lukoil entities in Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian Energy Ministry said in a statement that the U.S. move “is a direct result of the intensive actions, negotiations, and diplomatic talks we have been conducting since day one to ensure stability, predictability, and peace of mind for Bulgarian citizens and businesses.”

Britain’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation has also granted licenses for Lukoil Bulgaria EOOD and Lukoil Neftochim Burgas AD. The latter manages the country’s only oil refinery at Burgas.

“These authorisations support the energy security of our partners and allies without benefiting the Russian government,” Reuters quoted a Treasury spokesperson.

Treasury also issued a license to allow transactions with the Caspian Pipeline Consortium and Tengizchevroil projects, even if they involve the sanctioned oil companies.

CPC is a pipeline bringing more than 1.6 million barrels per day of crude, or 1.5% of global oil, from Kazakhstan’s oil fields developed by U.S. and EU majors Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Eni, Shell, TotalEnergies, and Lukoil. It crosses Russian territory and can be fully shut down by Moscow if it decides it wants to retaliate against Western sanctions.

The lawsuit, brought by over 600,000 Brazilians, was previously valued at up to $48 billion.

Lukoil’s international assets are estimated to be worth about $22 billion, based on 2024 filings.

The company’s global footprint spans upstream oil and gas projects, refining, and fuel retail networks across Africa, Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.

It produces half a million barrels of oil per day outside of Russia, or 0.5% of global oil output, in countries such as Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan.