US extends licence for Lukoil’s foreign asset sales once again

The US Department of Treasury (DoT) has extended its licence, allowing companies to continue negotiations with Russian oil company Lukoil over the sale of its international assets until 22 August.

IMAGE: Lukoil's storage tanks. Getty Images

The US treasury department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has extended the period for the sale of Lukoil International or any of Lukoil’s majority-owned subsidiaries, it said.

The extension marks the eighth such instance since the US imposed sanctions on the oil company. The general license was previously scheduled to lapse on 25 July.

Notably, the license does not authorise “transfer of funds to any person or account located in the Russian Federation,” the treasury department said.

Washington sanctioned Russia’s biggest oil producers – Rosneft and Lukoil – and their subsidiaries in October last year, following similar measures by the UK.

The move was in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, now in its fourth year. It has compelled Lukoil to sell its international assets, valued at about $22 billion, including oilfields, refineries and gas ‌stations ⁠from Iraq to Finland.

Rosneft and Lukoil together produce more than 5 million b/d of oil, according to market analysts.

By Aparupa Mazumder

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