Russia’s Lukoil is considering the sale of its four oil refineries in Europe, including Neftochim Burgas plant in Bulgaria, the company President Vagit Alekperov has said.
"These aren’t assets that are strategic for us at present, we have been focused mainly on exploration and development of oil and gas fields in recent years,” Alekperov said in an interview with Russian media group RBC published on Thursday. “This may urge us us to take crucial decisions about the fate of such assets in the future,” Alekperov added.
According to Alekperov, Lukoil might sell its entire oil refining business in Europe, or parts of it, or the company might spin off its oil refineries in a separate entity and seek to attract investors into it.
Lukoil has four oil refineries in Europe - in Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, and the Netherlands.
Alekperov said earlier this month that Lukoil had no plans at present to revise its investment programme for 2016 or its oil price forecast for the year.
