Exclusive-Hungary's MOL interested in Lukoil assets, sources say

By Dmitry Zhdannikov and Marek Strzelecki

LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Hungary's MOL has told U.S. officials it is interested in buying international assets of sanctioned Russian oil major Lukoil, three sources familiar with the matter said, joining a growing list of contenders.

The United States imposed sanctions on Russia's largest privately-owned oil producer in October as part of efforts to pressure Moscow to end its war in Ukraine, forcing Lukoil to announce the sale of foreign assets.

Lukoil is talking to oil majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron and Middle Eastern investors ahead of a U.S.-imposed December 13 deadline, sources have said, after Washington rejected Swiss commodity trader Gunvor as a buyer. 

Lukoil's Vienna-based international business owns refineries in Europe, shares in oilfields in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iraq and Mexico, plus hundreds of retail fuel stations around the world. 

Oil and gas company MOL would like to buy Lukoil's refineries and fuel stations in Europe as well as stakes in producing assets in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, one of the three sources said.

The sources declined to be identified by name due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The U.S. Treasury Department declined to comment. MOL and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a longtime ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, discussed MOL's plans with Trump when the two leaders met in November, one of the sources said.

The visit yielded Hungary a one-year waiver from U.S. sanctions to continue using Russian oil and gas. 

Budapest relies heavily on Russian energy and Orban, 15 years in power, has long tried to maintain good relations with both Moscow and Washington. MOL has been seeking to buy Russia-owned Serbian refiner NIS, which is also under U.S. sanctions.

(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov in London, Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw, additional reporting by Timothy Gardner and Krisztina Than, editing by Alex Lawler and Kirsten Donovan)