Italy’s ISAB Refinery Hopes For Year-End Sale

Russia's Lukoil is keen to sell the ISAB oil refinery in Sicily by the end of the year, the manager of the plant was quoted as saying in an interview on Monday.

• "There is the idea to sell. We think that the deal for the sale can be concluded in a short time... probably within this year," he said.
• Lukoil has been in talks with Crossbridge Energy Partners and Trafigura.
• He also indicated that the refinery has enough reserves and contracts for non-Russian oil to keep running for several months.
• US authorities have reassured Italy that its banks are not at risk of penalties for breaching sanctions if they help the refinery buy non-Russian oil, Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said on Saturday.
• Talks for takeover and a trusteeship by the Italian government have been increasing in recent weeks, since the refinery is now affected by the EU’s embargo on Russian seaborne oil exports.