ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Russian oil and energy investments in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region will continue unimpeded by recent US sanctions on Russia’s Lukoil and Rosneft, a well-informed source told The New Region on Monday.

The source said that Lukoil’s plan to sell some of its foreign assets “does not include its assets in Iraq,” including its stake in the West Qurna-2 oil field in Basra Province, adding that Rosneft’s projects in the Kurdistan Region are similarly unchanged.

According to the source, the sanctions targeted specific subsidiaries belonging to both companies, “not the parent companies or their investments in Iraq.” He said none of the sanctioned entities operate in the country.

The source added that projects run by Lukoil in Iraq and Rosneft in Kurdistan are operating normally and remain in coordination with Iraq’s Oil Ministry and the Kurdistan Regional Government. “There is no change in their activity or contractual commitments,” he said.

Lukoil, one of Russia’s largest energy companies, announced Monday that it began selling some overseas assets after being added to a US sanctions list. The company said it is restructuring its foreign investments due to restrictions.

The US Treasury Department announced new sanctions last week on Lukoil and Rosneft, accusing them of helping finance Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Treasury Secretary Scott Biscent said the measures target companies “supporting Russia’s war machine” and called on allies to fully respect the sanctions. The Office of Foreign Assets Control set a November 21 deadline to liquidate certain assets abroad.

However, the source said oil contracts signed with Baghdad and Erbil “are completely separate” from any companies listed under the sanctions.

In an exclusive interview with The New Region in late October, Russian Ambassador to Iraq Elbrus Kutrashev said US sanctions on Russian oil and gas companies will not affect Moscow’s energy investments in Iraq or the Kurdistan Region.

“We have got used to sanctions. These new sanctions… do not affect much. I would say they do not affect anything,” Kutrashev said, noting that the impact of the censures are limited to making the “managers’ work a bit more difficult.”

Lukoil is one of Iraq’s biggest foreign investors, holding a 75 percent stake in the West Qurna-2 field, the world’s second-largest oil field, with around 14 billion barrels of recoverable reserves.

Rosneft has major investments in the Kurdistan Region, including oil pipelines and fuel supply projects. The total value of Russian investments across Iraq is estimated at about $20 billion, according to previous comments by the Russian ambassador in Baghdad.