(Bloomberg) – Russia’s Lukoil PJSC declared force majeure on oil shipments from its giant West Qurna 2 field in Iraq, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The move is a sign that sanctions against Russia’s No. 2 oil producer are beginning to impact its international operations. The U.S. announced penalties against the firm last month as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to ramp up pressure on Moscow to end its war in Ukraine.
Declaring force majeure gives Lukoil the right to skip contractual obligations, but it doesn’t automatically mean shipments from West Qurna 2 will halt. The company owns 75% of the field, which was pumping more than 480,000 bpd back in April, according to Interfax.
Iraq’s state oil marketing company, SOMO, canceled three Lukoil cargoes for November loading, two people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. Whether those barrels would still be pumped was unclear, though Iraq has frozen payments to Lukoil following the sanctions.
The Moscow-based company didn’t immediately respond to a Bloomberg request for comment. The force majeure was reported earlier by Reuters.
After sanctions were announced last month, Lukoil, Russia’s most internationally diverse oil company, said it would seek to sell its operations abroad, which include West Qurna 2. Shortly afterward, the firm said it had accepted an offer from Gunvor Group to buy the assets, but the US Treasury lashed out, calling Gunvor “the Kremlin’s puppet,” and Gunvor subsequently withdrew its bid.
