OFAC issued General Licence 131F on 28 May, the sixth iteration of the Lukoil-sale series, superseding 131E of 29 April and running negotiation rights to a 27 June clock1. It authorises talks and contingent contracts for the sale of Lukoil International GmbH (the Swiss holding company for Lukoil's non-Russian refineries), not the transfer itself. The licence sits ten days behind GL 134C, whose Russian in-transit vessel cover lapses on 17 June, so two Russia-supply deadlines now compress into one fortnight.
LIG's European refining assets include Neftochim Burgas in Bulgaria and Petrotel Ploiesti in Romania. ISAB in Sicily is not among them: Litasco sold it to GOI Energy in 2023. The companion FAQ 1224 sets the buyer terms: complete severance from Lukoil, funds owed parked in a US-jurisdiction blocked account, no upfront value transferred2. That structure forces a buyer to front capital with zero recourse, which is why the deal has not closed through six rollovers.
The arbitrage sits in the divergence. Brent below $95 is pricing the Iran ceasefire while the regulatory calendar tightens into late June, so a desk fading the flat-price premium can hold long optionality on the June crude legs for little carry. The base rate cuts the other way: this series rolled six times, and 134B gave way to 134C before it. Read the position as the gap between a relaxing screen and a tightening compliance pool, with the June dates as the option on top, not as a bet on a hard cliff.
