Signs of the times? Lukoil has suffered a second setback in its bid for Geoilbent
- Geoilbent out the door
- Lukoil buys up Geoilbent stake
- Russneft moves on Geoilbent
- Levit calls off talks over sale of Geoilbent stake
- Novatek in Siberia gas asset sale
- Russneft buys up Volganeft
- Russneft cashes in on West Siberian oilfields
- Russneft eyes Sibir
- RussNeft joins Goloil in Siberia
- Russneft gaining foothold with asset deal
Lukoil's Geoilbent plans take knock
Lukoil's plans to take a controlling stake in energy holding company Geoilbent suffered another setback after a second Russian court effectively blocked the stake sale, local media reported today.
Lukoil wants to buy the 66% stake from gas producer Novatek, but the deal was initially frozen while a court in Stavropol region investigated a claim Broadwood Trading & Investments, which said it had pre-emption rights on the stake.
Business daily Vedomosti claimed that Broadwood was acting for Russian producer Russneft.
The ruling was dismissed by a higher court last week, but Vedomosti reported that a Chechen court has subsequently imposed a similar ban on the deal, which analysts say could be worth up to $200 million.
Geoilbent has licences to develop Siberian oil and gas deposits with proven reserves of 513 million barrels. According to media reports, Russneft has already bought the other 34% of Geoilbent, which Lukoil had also hoped to buy.