Russia’s energy minister has attempted to combine the country’s oil majors in a sign of the power struggle at play over the Kremlin’s key wartime revenue source, according to four senior Russian energy industry figures. The pitch by Sergei Tsivilev, a relative of president Vladimir Putin who was appointed to the role in May, involved nationalising Lukoil and tightening control over state-run Rosneft and Gazprom Neft, a unit of gas monopoly Gazprom, according to the people.
“It is a common situation in this industry, where oil executives have operated independently, and the minister role has been more technical.” The executive added: “Leveraging his family connection, approached the boss with a proposal: let’s streamline the system; the situation is urgent, the homeland is at risk.