UK allows transactions with Lukoil's international assets until Feb 26
MOSCOW. Nov 28 (Interfax) - The United Kingdom has granted permission to conduct transactions with Lukoil International GmbH, the international division of Russian oil company Lukoil , for three months.
The license, valid from November 27, 2025 to February 26, 2026, was published Thursday on the British government's website.
Making or receiving payments from Lukoil International and its subsidiaries on existing or new contracts will be allowed for this period.
The UK hit Lukoil with sanctions in mid-October and the United States soon followed. Lukoil immediately began looking for a buyer for Lukoil International and on October 30 it already announced that it had received and accepted an offer to buy its international arm from commodities trader Gunvor. However, the U.S. Treasury Department refused to approve the sale to Gunvor, so the trader withdrew its offer.
After Gunvor was knocked out of the running, a whole line of potential buyers for Lukoil International emerged. There were media reports of interest from U.S. majors Chevron Corp. and ExxonMobil, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, private equity group Carlyle, Emirate conglomerate International Holding Company (IHC) and billionaire Todd Boehly with a group of investors from the United Arab Emirates.
The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a license for the sale of Lukoil's international assets until December 13, but warned it could revoke it if it finds insufficient efforts are being made to reach a deal.
Lukoil is involved in projects in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates and Republic of the Congo, and has oil refineries in Bulgaria, Romania and the Netherlands. The company also has about 2,500 filling stations in 19 countries.
The proven oil and gas reserves of Lukoil's international projects totalled 1.345 trillion barrels of oil equivalent at the end of 2024. The company's international projects, not include West Qurna 2 in Iraq, produced 3.9 million tonnes of oil and gas condensate and 16.2 billion cubic meters of gas in 2024.
Crude processing at the group's European oil refineries fell 18% to 13.5 million tonnes in 2024 due to the sale of the ISAB refinery in Italy in May 2023. Retail sales of oil products abroad totalled 4.2 million tonnes in 2024.
