The deal under which China’s troubled CEFC will take over 51% in Romanian unit KazMunayGas International (KMGI) from Kazakhstan's KazMunayGas (KMG) has not been cancelled but has been postponed until the end of June, KMG officials told Reuters on March 19.

“Both parties are still fully committed to closing the deal in the near future,” KMG told the newswire in written comments. The chairman of CEFC, Ye Jianming, is being investigated in China for alleged economic crimes.

However, Bursa daily reported on March 21 that some unnamed investors, including some “American investors”, were possibly interested in replacing CEFC in the deal with KMG. The replacement would be considered in the context of CEFC facing difficulties, according to the speculation. The Romanian authorities would also take into account geopolitical concerns as well, the sources added, implying that a US investor would be preferred as the owner of the country's largest refinery, located on the Black Sea coast.

In 2016, KMG reached an agreement on selling a 51% stake in KMG International to China’s China Energy Company Limited (CEFC). CEFC is ready to contribute $3bn to finance the expansion of KMGI as soon as it becomes the majority owner and the five-year development plan is endorsed, Agerpres reported, requoting CEFC board member Du Liefen speaking in Astana in July 2017.

The deal with CEFC is not definitively closed “due to remaining obligations”, officials from KMG told Reuters without explaining the nature of the obligations.

The obligations are possibly related to KMGI’s refinery in Romania. KMG is in the process of settling a dispute with the Romanian authorities resulting from a $660mn claim held by the state against Rompetrol Rafinare — the main asset in the KMGI portfolio.

The government included $200mn expected from Rompetrol in this year’s budget, which indicates that officials expected a smooth settlement of the dispute. Under the agreement with the Romanian government, the Kazakh company will buy 26.7% in the refinery from the state for $200mn and set up what it says will be a $1bn investment fund, with a $150mn initial contribution from KMGI, from which it would deliver a 20% stake free of charge to the state. The agreement itself is, however, subject to an ongoing trial.