Russia Weighs Plan to Merge Biggest Oil Companies, WSJ Reports

(Bloomberg) -- Russian officials and business executives have held talks about merging the country’s biggest oil companies into a single producer, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Under one potential plan, state-backed Rosneft PJSC would take over Gazprom Neft and Lukoil PJSC, the newspaper said, citing unidentified people familiar with the discussions. The talks, which have taken place over the past few months, aren’t guaranteed to result in a deal, and plans could change, the people said.

Lukoil and Gazprom Neft did not immediately respond to emails sent outside of regular business hours. Rosneft’s press service doesn’t accept requests over the weekend.

A Rosneft spokesman told the WSJ that the reporting was false according to the information available to him, and said in an email to the paper that the article “may be aimed at creating competitive market advantages in the interests of other market participants.”

A Lukoil spokesman said neither the company nor its shareholders were engaged in merger negotiations, while spokesmen for Gazprom Neft and Gazprom PJSC didn’t respond to requests for comment, according to the WSJ.

A Kremlin spokesperson told the paper he had no knowledge of a deal. 

If such a deal was reached, the company would be the world’s largest crude producer after Saudi Aramco, according to the report.

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