(Reuters) -Russia’s second-largest oil producer, Lukoil, is facing growing disruptions to its international operations following U.S. sanctions and Washington’s refusal to approve the sale of its overseas assets to Swiss commodity trader Gunvor.
Lukoil’s global footprint spans upstream oil and gas projects, refining, and fuel retail networks across Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas.
The company produces half a million barrels of oil per day outside of Russia, or 0.5% of global oil output, in countries such as Iraq, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
Below are details about its international assets:
UPSTREAM OPERATIONS
MIDDLE EAST
Lukoil operates Iraq’s 480,000 barrel-per-day West Qurna 2 oilfield, one of the world’s largest, and holds a 75% stake.
Lukoil has declared force majeure at the field, after Iraq halted all cash and crude payments to the company, sources told Reuters.
In Egypt, Lukoil holds a 50% stake in the West Esh El Mallaha (WEEM) and WEEM Extension oilfields alongside Egypt’s Tharwa Petroleum. It also holds a 24% stake in the Meleiha concession while Italy’s Eni holds the remainder.
In the UAE it holds 10% of the Ghasha offshore concession, a large gas and condensate project, operated by ADNOC.
CENTRAL ASIA
Lukoil holds stakes in major Kazakh oil and gas projects, including 13.5% in Karachaganak and 5% in Tengiz. It also has a 12.5% stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which exports oil from Tengiz to the Black Sea.
The company also owns nearly 20% of the BP-operated Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
Lukoil also operates the South-West Gissar gas field in Uzbekistan and holds a 90% stake in the Kandym fields development near the country’s border with Turkmenistan.
AFRICA AND LATIN AMERICA
Lukoil has upstream interests in several offshore exploration blocks in West Africa, including in Cameroon, Nigeria and Ghana, as well as a 25% interest in Congo’s LNG producing Marine XII block which is operated by Eni.
In Mexico Lukoil also has stakes in several offshore blocks where it partners with Italy’s Eni. It also has a 50% stake in the Amatitlan onshore block, operated by Petrolera de Amatitlan SAPI de CV. REFINING ASSETS
BULGARIA Lukoil owns the 190,000 barrel-per-day Neftohim Burgas refinery, the largest in the Balkans. In response to the sanctions, Bulgaria’s parliament recently passed legislation allowing the government to take control of the refinery, citing national security concerns. It also stepped up security measures at the site ahead of the potential takeover.
ROMANIA
In Romania, Lukoil fully owns the country’s 48,600 barrel-per-day Petrotel refinery. The Romanian government has said it will scrutinise any proposed asset sales to ensure compliance with EU regulations and to safeguard energy security.
NETHERLANDS
Lukoil’s trading arm Litasco holds a 45% stake in the Zeeland refinery, a 180,000 barrel-per-day facility operated as a joint venture with France’s TotalEnergies.
FUEL RETAIL BUSINESS
FINLAND
Lukoil fully owns Teboil, one of Finland’s largest fuel retailers with approximately 430 stations. Some Teboil stations have begun running out of fuel due to halted deliveries linked to the sanctions, daily Helsingin Sanomat reported.
MOLDOVA
Lukoil owns the only plane refuelling facility and the fuel storage site at the country’s only international airport in Chisinau. Moldova has requested a temporary exemption from Washington for Lukoil to continue operating in the country.
UNITED STATES
There are also about 200 Lukoil-branded petrol stations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. The Russian company entered the U.S. market in the early 2000s by acquiring local stations, including Mobil-branded stations from ConocoPhillips.
OTHER
Lukoil has a significant retail presence in several countries. It is one of the top players in Moldova and Bulgaria, operates around 600 petrol stations in Turkey, where it also has significant oil storage, and more than 300 petrol stations in Romania.
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo, Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow, Robert Harvey and Anna Hirtenstein in London, America Hernandez in Paris, Essi Lehto and Elviira Luoma in Finland, Georgi Slavov and Stoyan Nenov in Bulgaria; editing by Jason Neely)
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