Chevron Stays in the Hunt for Lukoil’s International Assets

February 06, 2026

• Lukoil has signed a non-exclusive preliminary agreement with Carlyle that still requires U.S. regulatory approval.
• Chevron-backed groups and other U.S.- and UAE-linked investors remain in active talks for the assets.
• Sanctions and OFAC scrutiny continue to shape and potentially derail the sale process.

A consortium comprising Chevron and a group led by an investment bank continues negotiations with Lukoil and U.S. officials to buy the Russian firm’s international assets, even as Lukoil has signed a preliminary non-exclusive deal with Carlyle, multiple sources with knowledge of the ongoing talks tell Reuters. 

Last week, Lukoil announced it had agreed to sell most of its international assets to private equity giant Carlyle.   

The agreement is not exclusive and is subject to conditions such as the procurement of necessary regulatory approvals, including permission from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for the transaction with Carlyle.

Lukoil continues negotiations with other potential buyers, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, noted in the press release last week.

The non-exclusivity of the preliminary agreement means that Chevron and other potential buyers remain in the race.

A tie-up of Chevron and Texas-based Quantum Energy Partners is one of the bidders still in talks to potentially buy Lukoil’s international assets, while investment bank Xtellus Partners leads another consortium with American billionaire Todd Boehly and the UAE’s Allied Investment Partners, according to Reuters’ sources.

“It’s definitely not a done deal yet, Carlyle is just now starting to take a closer look at Lukoil’s assets,” one source close to Lukoil told Reuters.

“The winds could still change on this sale,” the source added. 

Following the U.S. sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft, “as a result of Russia’s lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine,” Lukoil announced in October it would sell all of its international assets, initiating a formal process to receive bids from potential buyers.

After months of negotiations with potential buyers and one preliminary agreement with Gunvor blocked by the U.S. Treasury, which described the trading group as “the Kremlin’s puppet”, Lukoil announced it has signed an agreement to sell Lukoil International GmbH to Carlyle.

Yet, this may not be the final twist in this sales process.  

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