Lukoil Does Not Plan to Quit Venezuela Despite Delays With Signing Contracts

Russia's Lukoil (RTS: LKOH) does not plan to quit the Venezuelan market despite delays with the signing of agreements on oil production projects, Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov said. 'Unfortunately, the signing of agreements on projects in Venezuela has dragged on. We adjust them constantly. The laws, which the government of the country adopt today, are burdensome for the economy,' Alekperov said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper. The oil company cannot 'run the risk of considering these projects as a source for Cuban refineries,' and 'it is irrational to buy a refinery [in Cuba] for the sake of a refinery if there is no logistic [infrastructure] for oil deliveries,' Alekperov said. 'We think that this region has unique reserves of oil and gas, in which Lukoil must be present,' he said. 'We are interested in producing and refining oil in the region, because we are present on the U.S. retail market,' Alekperov said. The Lukoil chief recognized that this retail business in the United States is not profitable now. 'But we cannot fail to be present on the market which consumes 30% of the world's oil and on which we sell 8 billion tonnes of oil products per year. The project has prospects to develop, which are in particular linked to the fact that we have new refining assets,' Alekperov said."