This is not news; it's been obvious for several years now that America is pushing Russia out of the European gas and oil market so they can move in with more expensive LNG. That it is destroying economies in Europe has no sway on the American government. There is nothing godly in this astonishing greed. It may not be criminal, but it sure as hell is immoral!
US officials working to corner EU energy market – FT
The US is moving to push Russian energy out of the EU market and position itself to fill the gap, the Financial Times reported Friday.
Washington has also deliberately blocked a bid by Sweden-based Gunvor Group to acquire the foreign assets of Russian oil major Lukoil, according to the outlet.
Gunvor withdrew its $22 billion proposal after US officials accused the company of acting as “the Kremlin’s puppet.” Earlier in November, the US Treasury warned in a post on X that the company would “never get a license to operate and profit” if it pursued the deal.
The potential acquisition surfaced after US President Donald Trump imposed new sanctions on Lukoil and another Russian oil giant, Rosneft, prompting the former to seek buyers for its overseas holdings.
The bid was announced as “US officials toured Europe as part of efforts to sell American energy and eliminate ‘every last molecule’ of Russian gas from the continent,” the FT wrote. The decision to block the deal came from “high up in the Treasury,” the paper reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.
Afterward, Washington issued a general license enabling other bidders to pursue Lukoil’s international assets, the FT said. Private US equity firm Carlyle expressed interest this week, according to the report.
Lukoil confirmed on Friday that it is in “ongoing negotiations on the sale of its international assets with several potential buyers,” without naming them.
US officials have openly stated their intention to replace Russia in the EU energy market. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in September that the US was prepared “to displace all of the Russian gas that goes into Europe and all of the Russian refined products from oil as well.”
The Kremlin has condemned the sanctions as an “unfriendly step” but maintained it is still seeking “good relations with all countries, including the US.”
The restrictions on Lukoil are already affecting Europe. Earlier in November, Bulgaria curbed fuel exports to its fellow EU states amid supply concerns. Lukoil owns the country’s largest refinery, more than 200 gas stations and a major fuel transport network.
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US pressuring Serbia to expel Russian companies from energy sector – minister
The US has refused to let Serbia’s only oil refinery resume operations unless the Russian co-owners give up their stakes, Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Dedovic Handanovic said on Saturday.
The Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS), which runs the refinery, was hit with US sanctions last month. Banks have since stopped processing transactions, and Croatia’s JANAF pipeline, Serbia’s key crude oil supply route, has halted deliveries. Earlier, Reuters reported that the refinery can operate only until November 25 without new supplies.
Russian energy giants Gazprom and Gazprom Neft together own 56% of NIS, while the Serbian government owns around 30%.
NIS petitioned the US government for a temporary waiver that would allow the company to continue operating while it negotiates a change in ownership, Dedovic Handanovic said. The US granted only a three-month period to find new buyers, not permission for the refinery to keep running, she added.
Serbia was “not given even a single day for NIS to continue operating,” the minister said. “The American administration has, for the first time, stated clearly and unequivocally that it wants a complete change in the ownership held by Russian shareholders,” Dedovic Handanovic stated.
She said Belgrade would have to make “some of the most difficult decisions in history” at a government meeting Sunday that will include President Aleksandar Vucic and heads of major state companies. The options include nationalizing NIS and negotiating possible compensation for the Russian shareholders, she said.
The US and the EU have urged Serbia to cut its historically close ties with Russia, which Belgrade has so far resisted. The US also aims to push Russia from the European market, with Energy Secretary Chris Wright saying in September that Washington was prepared to “displace” the importation of Russian oil and gas.
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