MOSCOW, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Chevron Texaco has made a $4 billion offer for a 25 percent stake in the Russian oil giant Yukos, the BBC reports quoting the Sunday Times.
According to the report, the Russian company's planned merger with rival Sibneft may be in trouble and this might be seen as opening an opportunity for the U.S. oil company which has been courting Yukos for some time.
Russian authorities currently are investigating Yukos. CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been targeted by prosecutors in what is being seen by some as a campaign by Kremlin figures to keep business people out of politics.
Both Yukos and Sibneft have said, nevertheless, that their proposed merger is on track.
Khodorkovsky says the investigations are politically motivated and are far from over and Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he thinks the crackdown by prosecutors has been excessive.
The latest probe brings to eight the number of investigations into Yukos.
