Is Midad reaching for Russia’s forbidden fruit? Midad Energy is reportedly joining the race to buy recently US-sanctioned Lukoil’s USD 22 bn international assets , with proceeds to be parked in escrow until sanctions are lifted, three unnamed sources told Reuters. The structure could include US companies, threading a narrow compliance needle around the sanctions regime, one source told the newswire.

Contenders: The reported all-cash bid is going against competition from Carlyle, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Abu Dhabi’s IHC, and Adnoc. Previous runners — rejected by the US Treasury — include Swiss energy trader Gunvor and a group led by US bank Xtellus Partners, which sought to acquire the foreign assets via a cashless swap of sanctioned securities held by US investors.

Lukoil has until 17 January to sell the assets, under the latest deadline set by the US Treasury.

Why this matters-

It’s a big haul: The mandated divestment spans assets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, setting up a potential reshuffle of refinery ownership and upstream positions as Russia is forced out of key markets.

Midad’s edge? Access on both sides of the sanction wall

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control approval decides who can close. CEO Abdulelah Al Aiban is the brother of national security adviser Musaed Al Aiban, who joined US-Russia peace talks hosted back in February in Riyadh.

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