By Vladimir Soldatkin and Olesya Astakhova
MOSCOW, Jan 29 (Reuters) – U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group has agreed to buy most of Lukoil’s $22 billion worth of foreign assets, which Russia’s second-largest oil company is forced to sell because of U.S. sanctions.
The planned sale, announced by both companies on Thursday, comes just as Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators try to reach a deal to end the Ukraine war, and would mark the end, for now, of Lukoil’s attempt to become a global player.
Neither Lukoil nor Carlyle gave a price for the asset sale, which still requires approval from the U.S. agency which administers sanctions. The U.S. Treasury had given Lukoil until February 28 to sell its global portfolio.
“Carlyle’s approach to LUKOIL International would be on ensuring operational continuity, preserving jobs, stabilizing the asset base and supporting safe, reliable performance across the portfolio by bringing to bear dedicated oversight and international operating capabilities,” Carlyle said in a statement.
Lukoil, which also announced the planned sale, said it was continuing negotiations with other potential buyers.
Russia, which accounts for about a tenth of global oil production, has faced a myriad of sanctions on its major companies since President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
In October, those sanctions were extended to Lukoil and Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempt to force Moscow towards negotiating an end to the war.
Negotiations have intensified in recent weeks and Trump envoys have repeatedly underscored that Washington could help remove Western sanctions and re-integrate Russia into the global economy, including with investments in Russia, if a deal was reached.
LUKOIL SELLS OUT INTERNATIONALLY
Lukoil said in a statement it had agreed with Carlyle to sell its unit LUKOIL International GmbH, which oversees the company’s foreign assets.
These include operations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, and Mexico, and range from a controlling stake in Iraq’s sprawling West Qurna 2 oilfield to refineries in Bulgaria and Romania.
“The agreement signed is not exclusive for the Company and is subject to some conditions precedent such as procurement of necessary regulatory approvals including permission of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for the transaction with Carlyle,” Lukoil said.
Carlyle said in a statement that the deal was conditional upon its due diligence and regulatory approvals.
SANCTIONS PRESSURE
Various sources have said that at least a dozen potential suitors had expressed interest in Lukoil assets, including Carlyle, U.S. oil majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron, Abu Dhabi conglomerate IHC, and Saudi Arabia’s Midad Energy.
Founded in Washington, D.C., Carlyle is a global investment firm with $474 billion in assets and decades of experience investing in and operating energy assets across international markets.
Chevron has also been in talks with Iraq on the acquisition of giant West Qurna 2 oilfield, one of the world’s biggest, where Lukoil has a 75% stake.
LUKOIL WILL RETAIN KAZAKHSTAN’S ASSETS
Lukoil said the deal did not include its assets in Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan said on Wednesday it had submitted a formal bid to the U.S. authorities to acquire Lukoil’s stakes in the country’s energy projects.
The stakes include Caspian Pipeline Consortium, the main gateway for Kazakh oil exports, as well as the country’s largest oilfield, Tengiz.
The U.S. Treasury had already excluded the CPC, Tengiz and gas condensate field Karachaganak from the list of Lukoil’s assets subject to a mandatory sale.
Washington has so far blocked two proposed deals, first between Lukoil and Swiss trading group Gunvor in October, and then a proposed share swap engineered by Xtellus Partners, the former U.S. arm of Russian bank VTB, in December.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin and Olesya Astakhova; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Osborn and Tomasz Janowski)
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