The Trump administration is backing a deal for Russian oil giant Lukoil’s overseas assets that is poised to deliver billions of dollars to the US Treasury and bring shuttered refining capacity back online, a government insider told The Post.
A consortium led by investor Todd Boehly and including the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is seeking to purchase fields that span Asia, Europe, Africa and North America and produce more than 350,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day — roughly as much as the US added in new crude production last year — as well as three refineries in Bulgaria, Romania, and the Netherlands with a combined refining capacity of 350,000 barrels a day.
Officials said the assets are valued at about $20 billion and that the agency’s stake is structured so that profits will flow to the Treasury’s coffers.
DFC officials working on the bid with the private consortium say a signing will likely come in the next two weeks. However, given the complications of a deal involving so many stakeholders, things remain fluid. These sources see the impending purchase as proof that Washington can help execute sensitive deals that would be too risky without government involvement — and that ultimately benefit American taxpayers.
“The DFC has never done a transaction like this. This is unprecedented in this institution,” said one agency official who believes it could play an increasingly important role in foreign policy.
The little-known agency isn’t providing any capital up front — instead, its more important contribution is the confidence it gives private investors to pursue a transaction they might otherwise consider too politically risky.
One official said DFC was “not political risk insurance” but described its equity investment as providing reassurance to other investors.
The involvement of other nations in the consortium, including the UAE and Qatar, has raised eyebrows. But officials said international participation was important to ensure Lukoil would accept the transaction.
The deal structure would also prevent Russia from receiving a financial windfall while sanctions remain in place. Instead of cash, Russia’s payout would sit in international accounts out of Moscow’s reach, but worth billions if sanctions are ever lifted. Officials said Moscow accepted those terms because the shares still hold enormous value.
Officials declined to disclose the full financial mechanics while negotiations continue, leaving the government’s exposure and the timing of any Treasury payout unclear.
While restarting affected overseas refineries could ease pressure on fuel markets, the more direct benefit would be shoring up allies’ energy supplies and putting more fuel into the global market, which has become a national-security priority given Europe has few energy alternatives.
DFC was launched in 2019 and has already made key investments — including cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and rare earths in Angola. It even structured Trump’s Ukraine Critical Minerals Fund. The DFC’s war chest has more than tripled since Trump’s first term — jumping from $60 billion to $205 billion to combat China’s global influence campaign known as the Belt and Road Initiative.
The deal has also faced scrutiny following reports that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were involved but DFC officials pushed back on the suggestion that either man was negotiating the acquisition or involved in day-to-day dealmaking. Sources add Kushner and Witkoff are running a separate diplomatic track with Russia and had no role in negotiating this deal.
Boehly’s million-dollar donation in December 2025 to the super PAC MAGA Inc attracted criticism, but sources note Boehly has been the lead negotiator on behalf of the consortium for the entirety of the deal.
The Boehly consortium is not the only bidder to circle — the Carlyle Group claimed a signed purchase agreement back in January, but people familiar with the process say it was not binding.
DFC official said the members of the consortium remain “the only ones with the pieces of the puzzle to get this transaction done.”
