Russia's Lukoil and other buyers are in talks with Regal Petroleum about purchasing its gas fields in Ukraine five months after a similar deal with Shell fell apart.

Regal, an exploration and development company with a chequered history, said it had received preliminary approaches about "possible transactions" but stressed that talks were at an early stage.

Shares in Regal, which fell 5.5% on Monday, moved cautiously ahead 1% to 165p as the new management led by chairman and chief executive, David Greer, confirmed it was talking to unnamed buyers. Lukoil was not named by Regal, but industry sources confirmed the Russian company could pay as much as $1bn (£500m) to increase its reserves in Ukraine. ... Read full article