The United States extends deadline to May 1 for potential buyers of Lukoil assets

The United States on Monday extended for the fourth time the deadline for companies to negotiate with Russian company Lukoil LKOH.MM to purchase its foreign assets, following sanctions imposed by Washington on the energy company last year. The US Office of Foreign Assets Control has extended the deadline for interested companies to purchase foreign assets, valued at around $22 billion, until May 1. Sanctions were imposed on Lukoil, the second-largest Russian oil producer, and Rosneft ROSN.MM, its primary producer, in order to weaken Moscow’s ability to fund its war against Ukraine.

Among the parties interested in these assets are American private equity company Carlyle, US oil majors Exxon Mobil XOM.N and Chevron Corp CVX.N, Abu Dhabi International Holding Company IHC.AD, and Austrian investor Bernd Bergmair, former majority owner of an adult entertainment group that includes the website Pornhub.

Any specific agreement reached with Lukoil regarding the assets will have to be approved by OFAC. The Trump administration has slowed down the sale of Lukoil’s international assets to pressure Russia in peace talks in Ukraine, according to four sources speaking to Reuters in February.