LUKOIL to make a major move into Europe retail

Head of the LUKoil company Vagit Alekperov met President Putin today. He had two pieces of good news for him :

1. Alekperov expressed satisfaction that Gazprom has been selling gas produced by the LUKoil Company at a fair price. "Last year, we commissioned a new gas deposit, and our agreement with Gasport has worked," Alekperov said at a meeting with the Russian president on Monday.

Investing into the gas sector gives us confidence that we shall get a profit, and that the business has good prospects, Alekperov said.

2. "We believe we are ready to buy heavily on the European and US markets, and we have been considering a number of large facilities that we are planning to buy," Alekperov told the president.

The LUKoil Company has launched active work, investing into Eastern Europe, mostly into oil processing plants so as to do retail business, rather than sell crude, and reach the end customer, he said.

LUKoil have 2,000 fuelling stations in the United States and 600 in Europe, which are "good assets that fetch good profits", Alekperov said.


Pic is camera shy Vagit signing a contract with Saudi Arabian Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources Ali I. Al-Naimi