Lukoil buys back shares from stakeholder

Russian oil producer, Lukoil, will buy 7.6% of its own stock from US oil firm ConocoPhillips for $3.44 billion, Conoco said in the statement.

The deal stipulates that the shares will be sold at $53.25 apiece for a total of $3.442 billion. Metropol senior analyst, Alexei Kokin, says the price is a good one for Lukoil

"It's a good price for Lukoil. You could say it's below market. I don't know why Conoco agreed to that price, but it's a good deal for Lukoil."

But Pavel Sorokin, analyst at Alfa Bank, believes it largely reflects current market pricing.

"The price is very close to market, just a 5% discount to the opening price this morning. I think the stock has substantial growth potential.”