Trump administration delays crackdown on certain business with Russian oil companies
The motivation is likely rooted in a desire to facilitate a deal to buy the companies' foreign assets before sanctions set in.
The Trump administration is applying deep economic pressure to Russia’s two largest oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft, through new sanctions announced by the White House in October. The move stems from American frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s lack of commitment to ending the Ukraine War.
But Washington is already softening the impact of its own decision. Days after the U.S. granted Hungary a one-year exemption from the sanctions, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is now allowing certain oil customers to conduct limited business — sanction-free — with Lukoil and Rosneft through December 13 at midnight.
Under the new waivers (seen below), buying and selling oil with the two companies will be temporarily permitted on several oil projects in Kazakhstan, including a pipeline along the Caspian Sea. Without these waivers, the U.S. would attempt to freeze any transactions it could that are related to the Russian firms starting in just days.
As part of this temporary easing, the U.S. government is also exempting Lukoil’s business in Bulgaria from sanctions until April 2026.
This comes as several major news outlets report that Lukoil is looking to sell off its foreign assets, which would allow its core business in Europe to continue operating, albeit it out of Russian hands. Proceeds from any sale would likely be placed in an account inaccessible until the sanctions are lifted, according to Politico.
The move by the Trump administration could be seen as an effort to facilitate the orderly sale of Lukoil and Rosneft’s foreign assets, allowing more time for any deal to close.
Any business with the two companies not covered under the latest waivers will be subject to sanctions — meaning U.S. banks will freeze whatever money they can related to the firms — beginning on November 21.