A Chevron gas station in Los Angeles, California, USA, 28 July 2025. Photo: EPA/ALLISON DINNER
US energy giant Chevron is exploring the possibility of purchasing some of Russian oil company Lukoil’s sanctioned foreign assets, Reuters reported on Monday, citing five sources familiar with the matter.
On Friday, the US Treasury Department gave clearance for potential buyers to hold talks with Lukoil on acquiring its overseas assets until 13 December, three weeks after US sanctions against it come into effect on Friday.
According to Reuters’ sources, Chevron is only considering a deal for the Lukoil assets that align with its own business interests, rather than the Russian enterprise’s entire international portfolio — which is estimated to be worth some €19 billion and includes major refineries in Bulgaria and Romania, petrol stations across Europe and the US, and oil and gas extraction facilities in the Middle East.
Chevron told Reuters that it was complying with all relevant laws and regulations but did not comment on commercial matters.
Washington sanctioned Lukoil and state energy corporation Rosneft in October amid US President Donald Trump’s growing frustration at Russia’s reluctance to negotiate a peace deal to end its war in Ukraine, saying the measures would “degrade the Kremlin’s ability to raise revenue for its war machine and support its weakened economy”.
On Monday, the Treasury Department said its analysis had shown the measures were “having their intended effect of dampening Russian revenues by lowering the price of Russian oil and therefore the country's ability to fund its war effort against Ukraine”.
Last week, Russian business daily Kommersant reported that the sanctions had caused Russian oil prices to sink to their lowest level since the start of the year, with oil at ports in the Baltic and Black Sea selling for almost $20 per barrel lower than the price of Brent crude oil.
After the sanctions were imposed, Lukoil initially agreed to sell its international assets to multinational commodities trader Gunvor, but that deal fell through after the Treasury Department accused Gunvor of being a “puppet” for the Kremlin.
Founded in 2000 by Russian oligarch Gennady Timchenko and Swedish oil trader Torbjörn Törnqvist, Gunvor formally stepped back from the bulk of direct business and ties with Moscow after its 2014 annexation of Crimea, but suspicions of Russian influence over the firm have persisted.
Alongside Chevron, other companies to have expressed an interest in acquiring Lukoil’s international assets include US private equity firm Carlyle, European oil giant Shell and Kazakhstan’s state-owned KazMunayGas, Reuters reported.
