MOSCOW (AP) – U.S. oil company Chevron has expressed interest in acquiring assets of oil giant OAO Yukos, a Russian bankruptcy official said Friday. Nikolai Lashkevich, a spokesman for Yukos bankruptcy supervisor Eduard Rebgun, told The Associated Press that several international companies had inquired about participating in any auction or sell-off of the assets of Yukos, once Russia’s largest oil producer. “The receiver’s office has received letters expressing interest in acquiring certain Yukos assets from a number of large international companies, including from the U.S. company Chevron,” Lashkevich said. There was no immediate comment from Chevron on the statement. A day earlier, Russia’s state-controlled gas monopoly OAO Gazprom said major U.S. energy companies are interested in acquiring assets of Yukos, which was forced into bankruptcy by government tax claims alongside the prosecution of its founder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Gazprom did not specify which companies were interested. Yukos’ remaining assets include units that produce some 470,000 barrels per day as well as two refineries.
