No buyback clause in potential Lukoil deal, Gunvor CEO says

ABU DHABI, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Gunvor Group CEO Torbjorn Tornqvist told Reuters on Wednesday that a potential deal to buy the foreign assets of Russia's second-largest oil company Lukoil LKOH.MM will not contain a buyback clause.

Lukoil accepted an offer from Gunvor to buy its foreign assets after Washington imposed sanctions on it last month.

Speaking on the sidelines of the ADIPEC energy conference in Abu Dhabi, Tornqvist ruled out the possibility of a buyback clause that could allow Gunvor to sell the assets back to the Russian oil major if sanctions are eventually lifted.

"Absolutely not," he said, when asked by Reuters about whether such a clause might be included in the final deal.

Swiss-headquartered Gunvor has begun talks with regulators over the planned purchase, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

The company rose to prominence in the 2000s as the world's biggest trader in Russian oil. It has profited heavily from a rally in oil and gas prices that began with the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and Europe's move to cut its dependence on Russian energy.

Gunvor and peers Vitol and Trafigura have used those profits to acquire assets ranging from refineries and oil fields to power plants and wind farms.