Lukoil servicing subsidiary to shut down Iraq branch

TYUMEN. April 8 (Interfax) - Epu Service LLC, a subsidiary of Lukoil based in the Khanty Mansiysk Autonomous District, will close the branch which it opened in Iraq in late 2024, the company said in a report.

"At the time when the accounting report was formed in 2025, the company made the decision to close its branch in the Republic of Iraq. The measure to close the branch will be implemented in 2026," the publication reads.

The company specializes in producing submersible pump installations and providing servicing services to oil and gas producers. It has branches in Tatarstan and Komi and separate divisions in Perm and Moscow; it also operates within the Tyumen region, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District, Nenets Autonomous District, the Northwestern Federal District, the Volga Federal District and Southern Federal District. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRLE), the company belongs to Yugranefteprom Invest LLC, which is owned in turn by Lukoil subsidiary K. N. Holding LLC.

As reported, sanctions imposed on Lukoil by the U.S. and UK forced the company to announce the sale of its foreign assets. The company was forced to invoke the force majeure clause for its West Kurna-2 project in Iraq, the world's second biggest field with recoverable reserves of around 14 billion barrels, as it was not possible to make payments and fund the production process. Responsibility for managing the project has been handed over to Iraq's Basra Oil, at the same time as U.S. company Chevron entered into negotiations on becoming a participant.

Oil production at West Kurna-2 could currently amount to 460,000 barrels per day (bpd) or almost 0.5% of global oil production. The project is being developed on the basis of a service contract signed by Russia's Lukoil in January 2010, effective for 25 years. Oil production at the field was supposed to increase to 800,000 bpd. Lukoil fully funded the costs of the project with a 75% share.