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Pfluger, Colleagues Urge Any Lukoil Asset Sale to Permanently Sever Russian Control

WASHINGTON, DC — As first reported in Fox News, Representatives August Pfluger (TX-11), Craig Goldman (TX-12), Julie Fedorchak (ND-At Large), Randy Weber (TX-14), Pat Fallon (TX-04), and Dan Crenshaw (TX-02) sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent applauding his and the Trump Administration's work to cut off Russian energy assets that help fund Moscow's military and cyber aggression against Ukraine and U.S. allies.

In the letter, the lawmakers highlight the significant decline in Russia's oil and gas reserves following recent sanctions and stress that American energy leadership is vital to national security and global stability. They also urge the Treasury Department to carefully oversee the divestment of Russian energy giant Lukoil's international assets to ensure they do not fall back into Russian hands or into the control of another U.S. adversary.

The lawmakers also noted that the recent escalation in Iran and heightened instability across the Middle East further underscore the importance of American energy leadership. With global energy markets facing renewed volatility, they emphasized that preventing Russian-controlled assets from re-entering adversarial hands is essential to maintaining a stable supply and protecting U.S. national security interests.

In the letter, the lawmakers applauded Secretary Bessent for his leadership, saying, "Your leadership in imposing and enforcing new sanctions on major Russian energy companies, including Lukoil, has demonstrated our resolve to disrupt Russia’s war machine and bring an end to its longstanding and widespread aggression."

"American energy dominance is critical to our national security, and as the events of the last several days in Iran and the broader Middle East region have highlighted, our ability to promote peace through strength is enabled by our role in facilitating the stable and secure supply of energy to world markets. In this increasingly complex geopolitical era, we believe America’s energy companies, and not those of our adversaries, should continue leading the way," the lawmakers continued. 

The lawmakers concluded by encouraging the Treasury Department to carefully review proposals for the sale of Lukoil's international assets to ensure the transaction fully severs ties with the Russian parent company and aligns with U.S. interests: "We appreciate all that President Trump and members of his administration are doing to promote energy security and peace around the world. Pursuant to your Department’s own guidance, we encourage the Department of the Treasury – in concert with the White House and Departments of Energy, State, and War – to scrutinize every detail of the various proposals to ensure that any sale of LIG’s assets “completely severs” ties with the Russian parent company, paving the way for American energy companies to meet this moment with the urgency and precision it so deserves."

Full text of the letter can be found here.

Read more about the letter in Fox News here.

GOP Senators Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., Steve Daines, R-Mont., and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., sent a similar letter to Secretary Bessent last month. Read more about it in Fox Business here.