US grants indefinite license to Rosneft German units amid energy market volatility

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued an indefinite license covering operations related to the German subsidiaries of Russian energy giant Rosneft.

This new license supersedes the existing regulation, which was scheduled to expire on April 29.

The regulation encompasses Rosneft Deutschland GmbH and RN Refining & Marketing GmbH, as well as any legal entities in which these firms hold a stake of 50% or more.

Rosneft Deutschland holds interests in the Transalpine Pipeline and three refineries that account for 12% of Germany’s total refining capacity.

Following the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, the German government seized these Rosneft subsidiaries. The companies are currently under the management of the Federal Network Agency. According to Bloomberg, the indefinite license was implemented at the request of German authorities. Berlin aims to resolve the legal ambiguity surrounding these assets following the sanctions imposed on Rosneft in October 2025.

This move is intended to mitigate the risk of operational disruptions at the three refineries while US and Israeli aggression toward Iran continues to exert pressure on global energy markets. Bloomberg reported that the US reached this decision after considering the impact of the ongoing war on energy markets. On March 1, Iran announced that it had halted transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

The situation in this transit route, which accounts for approximately 20% of global oil supply and 30% of liquefied natural gas shipments, has pushed oil prices above $85 for the first time in the last eighteen months.

The US implemented sanctions against Rosneft in October 2025. At that time, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz indicated that Berlin could negotiate with Washington to exclude Rosneft’s German assets from the scope of the sanctions. German Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche stated that US authorities had provided written guarantees that the German companies would be exempted from the new sanctions.

Rosneft’s subsidiaries were placed under the trusteeship of the Federal Network Agency in the autumn of 2022. The Russian company challenged Berlin’s decision, characterizing it as an expropriation of property; however, a court in Leipzig rejected the case in the spring of 2023.

On February 20, 2026, the European Commission approved the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action’s move to assume full control over Rosneft Deutschland GmbH and RN Refining & Marketing GmbH.