Carlyle is exploring options to purchase Lukoil's foreign assets, according to sources

Three sources familiar with this situation have confirmed that the U.S. Carlyle private equity firm is looking at options to purchase foreign assets of Russian oil giant Lukoil. As part of their efforts to get the Kremlin into peace talks on Ukraine, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on Lukoil and blocked its attempt to sell assets ahead of the November 21, sanctions deadline. Lukoil produces 2% of the world's oil at home and abroad. It has announced that it is looking for buyers of its international assets. These assets produce 0.5% of the global oil, and are valued at about $22 billion based on filings from 2024.

One source said that Carlyle was in the initial stages of examining a possible purchase of these assets.

Carlyle was the first company to express interest. The source added that the company was looking to obtain a U.S. license allowing them to purchase the assets prior to beginning due diligence.

A second source confirmed that Carlyle had made Lukoil fully aware of their intentions.

Carlyle declined comment. Lukoil didn't respond to an inquiry for comment.

BETTER FIT

Gunvor halted its pursuit of foreign assets owned by Lukoil after the U.S. Treasury declared its intention to block the deal, and referred to the Swiss commodities broker as a Kremlin puppet.

Adi Imsirovic is the director of Surrey Clean Energy and former head of oil trading at Russia's Gazprom Trading. The U.S. Treasury set a deadline of November 21, after which all deals with the Russian firm will be banned. Lukoil, according to a report on Wednesday, has requested an extension.

"Carlyle has the opportunity to get a deal, but will they have the time to assess the value of these assets?" Dan Pickering is chief investment officer of Pickering Energy Partners.

Aditya Ravi, Rystad's head of upstream analysis, explained that nationalization efforts by some countries added to the complexity of a possible deal.

GLOBAL ASSETS

Lukoil, Russia's largest oil company abroad, has helped Moscow project its soft economic power for decades.

Lukoil operates three refineries in Europe and has stakes in oilfields around the globe, including the United States. It also owns hundreds of retail fuel station locations in Ghana, Egypt, Nigeria, Mexico and Kazakhstan. Lukoil operations in Iraq and Finland have been affected by the latest U.S. Sanctions.

Carlyle is one of the largest private equity firms in the world. It manages $474 billion worth of assets. Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov, Shariq Khan and Mark Potter Editing by Rod Nickel

(source: Reuters)