ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Russian oil giant Lukoil on Thursday agreed to sell international assets, including those in Iraq, to Carlyle Group, a private US equity firm, as the company caved under US and European sanctions for being accused of funding the war against Ukraine.

The deal covers most of Lukoil’s international assets apart from those in Kazakhstan, which it will keep, the company said in a statement. The agreement is not exclusive and requires approval from the US Treasury Department and “the Company also continues negotiations with other potential purchasers.”

In November, Lukoil announced that it began selling some overseas assets after being added to a US sanctions list, adding that it is restructuring its foreign investments due to restrictions.

“LUKOIL International GmbH is on sale owing to restrictive measures introduced by some countries against the Company and its subsidiaries,” the statement added.

West Qurna 2, one of the world’s largest oil fields and part of the deal, is 75 percent owned by Lukoil, which was the target of US sanctions in August, with Washington accusing the company of helping finance Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

In October the European Union also issued a package of sanctions banning Russian liquified natural gas imports. During the same month US treasury secretary Scott Benssent called Lukoil and Russia’s biggest oil producer Rosneft as part of “the Kremlin’s war machine.”

Lukoil in November declared force majeure at Iraq’s West Qurna 2 under the weight of US sanctions, with sources telling Reuters at the time that Lukoil informed Iraq’s oil ministry that it is unable to continue normal operations at the field.

In December, Iraq invited major US oil companies to bid on managing the massive oil field in southernmost Basra province. The field contains around 14 billion barrels of recoverable reserves. 

The Carlyle Group invests in companies around the world to help grow or restructure them to increase profit for shareholders.