Private equity group Carlyle is interested in the foreign assets of Russian oil major Lukoil, said two people familiar with the US group. Carlyle is considering whether to file for a licence with US officials that would allow it to negotiate a deal with Lukoil. Carlyle declined to comment. Lukoil did not immediately respond to a request for comment. No due diligence has been done and Carlyle, whose interest was first reported by Reuters, may decide not to pursue a deal. Several other bidders are vying for different parts of Lukoil’s international empire.
The Russian company late last month said it planned to sell the assets, after the US announced sanctions that have already paralysed the business. Lukoil had said it was in exclusive talks with Gunvor for the whole business. But the Swiss commodity trader withdrew from the deal last week following a social media post from the US Treasury that described it as the “Kremlin’s puppet”, adding the group would not be allowed to operate and profit from such a deal.
Lukoil’s international assets were listed in its 2023 accounts as having a book value of roughly $22bn and span oil and gasfields in Iraq, central Asia and Mexico, petrol station networks around the world, including in the US, and refineries in Bulgaria and Romania.
