The reassurance should help the Sicily-based ISAB plant remain afloat after a European embargo on seaborne Russian oil comes into effect on Dec. 5, safeguarding local jobs and national fuel supplies.

"We received credit comfort, a guarantee that banks funding bridging transactions [to help ISAB] will not be subject to U.S. sanctions," Urso told reporters on the sidelines of an event in the Sicilian city of Catania.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, ISAB has been forced to rely solely on Russian crude after creditor banks halted financing and stopped providing guarantees needed to buy oil from alternative suppliers.

Lukoil is not affected by sanctions in Europe, but banks were still reluctant to deal with a Russia-related company as they feared being targeted by possible future fines in the United States, where the company has been subject to sectoral sanctions since 2014.

This week, the Italian government laid out a scheme for the refinery to be placed under trusteeship. A similar move was taken by Germany when in September it took control of a refinery owned by Rosneft.

Urso said the refinery might go under "temporary" government control while Lukoil continues talks on selling the asset, adding that state-controlled Italian energy group Eni could be asked to support the trusteeship.

The government could call on "an oil company that operates in the sector, and it is obvious to everyone that this (company) could be Eni, and this will ensure continuity of production," he said.

On Friday, the Lukoil division that owns ISAB said the refinery could keep going despite the looming Russian oil embargo, relying on raw materials stored for the coming months and future deliveries of oil from countries other than Russia.

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte and Alvise Armellini, Editing by Louise Heavens)