Russia’s nod to Schlumberger acquisition of EDC stake

MOSCOW, Apr 29 (Reuters): Russia has given preliminary approval to a bid by US oilfield services giant Schlumberger to acquire up to 49 per cent of Russia's Eurasia Drilling Co (EDC), an unexpected decision given a chilling in US-Russian relations.
Washington has introduced a number of sanctions, including restrictions on financing for Russian companies over Moscow's role in Ukraine's crisis and alleged meddling in the US 2016 presidential election.
RIA news agency cited Igor Artemyev, head of Russia's anti-monopoly body (FAS), as saying the regulator would quickly start talks with Schlumberger, the largest oilfield services company by revenue.
"We (will) immediately start the talks with Schlumberger and hope that we are moving to the final stretch," he was quoted by RIA as saying after a Russian government meeting on foreign investments.
The FAS said later on Saturday that the government investment commission had decided to extend the time frame for examining the deal, but it was not immediately clear how long that could take. Schlumberger had initially planned to buy 51 per cent in EDC, but decided to scale down its bid.