Donald Trump has chosen ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be the next nominee for Secretary of State, according to a reports.
Mr Tillerson, 64, emerged as Mr Trump's top pick for the position in recent days. He has faced significant criticism for apparent ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
President-elect Trump is expected to make his official announcement next week. Sources close to the transition team cautioned that nothing is final, however, NBC News reported.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Mr Tillerson negotiated an energy partnership with Russia in 2011. The Russian President said the could be valued at approximatly $500bn. The following year, the Kremlin awarded Mr Tillerson with the Order of Friendship, the country's highest honour for foreign nationals.
Russia faced sanctions after the illegal annexation of Crimea, and thus ExxonMobil had to cease operations in 2014. But the head of the oil giant's Russian operations, Glenn Waller, said the company would return to the project once the sanctions were lifted. Mr Tillerson could certainly expedite the lift of those sanctions as the US's top diplomat.
Mr Tillerson has spent his entire career with the Texas-based oil company. He became chairman and CEO in 2006, maintaining close business ties to Mr Putin throughout.
Mr The report comes a day after the bombshell Washington Post report that said the CIA officials conducted a secret assessment that determined Russia worked to influence the US election in Mr Trump's favour, following a massive hack of the Democratic National Committee and other party officials.
The Trump transition team dismissed the report as bogus in a statement issued Friday evening.
"These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction," he said.
President Barack Obama ordered a "full review" of election related hacking, according to his Homeland Security adviser Lisa Monaco.
"We may have crossed into a new threshold and it is incumbent upon us to take stock of that, to review, to conduct some after-action, to understand what has happened and to impart some lessons learned," she said.
Mr Obama expects a full report delivered before he leaves office on 20 January.
Donald Trump has spent weeks interviewing potential nominees for the role – which is fourth in line for the presidency, just below the president pro tempore, Utah Sen Orrin Hatch.
Among those conisdered for the role were former Masschusetts Gov Mitt Romney, and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. On Friday, the transition team announced the Mr Giuliani withdrew himself from the running on 29 November.
If Mr Tillerson is confirmed, former UN Ambassador John Bolton will serve as his deputy, according to the report.
