The Russian oil company Lukoil has declared force majeure at the West Qurna-2 field in Iraq, one of the largest oil fields in the world. This was reported by Reuters, citing four sources.
According to the agency, Iraq has stopped all payments to Lukoil after the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions against the company at the end of October, as reported by "Meduza". Last week, Lukoil informed the Iraqi Ministry of Oil that there are force majeure circumstances preventing the company from continuing normal operations at the West Qurna-2 field. If the reasons for the force majeure are not resolved within six months, Lukoil stated that it would cease production and completely withdraw from the project, Reuters found out. West Qurna-2 is one of the largest oil fields in the world, located in southern Iraq. Lukoil received a contract for its development in 2010. The Russian company holds 75% in this project, while the remaining 25% belongs to the Iraqi state company North Oil Company. After the U.S. imposed sanctions, Lukoil announced the sale of its foreign assets to the company Gunvor, one of the founders of which was Russian businessman Gennady Timchenko. However, the U.S. Treasury stated that "as long as Putin continues these senseless killings, the Kremlin puppet Gunvor will never receive a license to operate and profit." Gunvor called the Treasury's statement "based on fundamentally false information and a lie," but they refused to purchase Lukoil's assets.
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