Russian petroleum company Lukoil is reportedly in talks with international oil majors about selling its stake in a consortium developing a large oil project in Venezuela. Reuters, citing a report by news daily Kommersant, said Lukoil in October announced that it wanted to sell its 20% stake in the Russian Junin-6 consortium to focus on other projects. The consortium led by Russian state oil major Rosneft is developing heavy oil in the Orinoco basin.
Rosneft head Igor Sechin earlier said the company is considering buying Lukoil's stake in the group. Rosneft offered a lower price than Lukoil had asked, after which Lukoil started talks with international majors, the report said.
According to Reuters, Lukoil has been in talks with Norway's Statoil, Chevron Corp., France's Total, Korea National Oil Corp., China's Sinopec, China National Offshore Oil Corp., India's ONGC and Russia's Bashneft and Zarubezhneft. Sources told Reuters that China National Offshore Oil Corp. is the front runner to buy the stake.
Lukoil's stake in the Russian consortium was said to be worth around USD200 million. The consortium owns a 40% stake in the project, while Venezuela's state-run PDVSA holds 60%, the report said.
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