Exxonmobil intends to buy Lukoil's stake in West Qurna 2

Alexey Belogoryev, Research and Development Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to Business FM on the prospects for the LUKOIL's foreign assets sale and the possible participation of ExxonMobil in their purchase:

— American companies have the highest chance of getting a quick agreement from the US Treasury Department, especially if we are talking about Exxonmobil or Chevron, the two largest companies with many assets in the Middle East region. On the contrary, the Trump administration is more likely to be suspected of organizing something like a raider seizure of Lukoil's assets using the sanctions mechanism, reducing the value of assets so that American companies can buy them back later. Perhaps this was not the main goal when imposing sanctions against Lukoil. There is such a suspicion, if Exxonmobil or Chevron become the main buyers of Lukoil's key assets, then this suspicion will only increase. The US Treasury will not reject these proposals, on the contrary, this is the best option that the Trump administration is considering.

— Because these are American companies. Gunvor's claims are related to what the company founded its business on back in the 2000s. Almost all of these claims relate to the period up to and including 2014, when Gunvor defiantly severed ties with Russia. Now this company is working with a huge number of different suppliers and grades of oil. The importance of the Russian business segment, if there is any connection at all, is deeply secondary. Therefore, the charges that the US Treasury has brought against Gunvor do not look very fair, it is clearly an anachronism, such charges could have been filed 10 years ago.