U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips is close to announcing the halving of its stake in LUKoil and will sell 10 percent of the company within three years, a source close to the deal said Wednesday.
"It looks most likely that on March 24, Conoco will announce that it is selling half its LUKoil stake within three years. It seems they could not reach a deal with LUKoil on the price of the share buyback," the source said on condition of anonymity.
The source said the stake was likely to be sold on the open market.
Conoco is due to hold its annual analyst meeting Wednesday, with chairman and chief executive Jim Mulva to give the main presentation.
LUKoil spokesman Dmitry Dolgov declined to comment. Conoco representatives were not immediately available for comment.
Conoco bought into LUKoil in 2004 and has gradually built up its stake to 20 percent, while also investing hundreds of millions of dollars into Naryanmarneftegaz, a joint production unit with LUKoil in Russia's Arctic.
The source said Conoco and LUKoil were likely to continue to co-own their Arctic joint venture, which produces about 150,000 barrels per day.
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