The UK has exempted Egypt's Zohr Gas Field from Russian sanctions

Britain added Egypt's Zohr Gas Field, where Russian oil major Rosneft has a 30% stake - and London-based BP a 10% one – to a list of projects that are exempted from its Russia sanctions. In October, Britain and the United States sanctioned Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft, and Lukoil for their involvement in funding Moscow's invasion in Ukraine.

The amended?general license, issued on Wednesday, allows for payments and business activities?linked to Zohr up until October 2027. BP owns a stake in Zohr along with?majority shareholder Eni, Rosneft, and other partners.

The license did not give a reason for the exclusion. The British government did not respond immediately to a comment request.

The licence also exempts other large oil and natural gas ventures in Russia and Kazakhstan, as well as the Caspian Region.

In an October package of sanctions, the United States included a general licence that allows ongoing work on major energy ventures, such as Tengizchevroil, a Kazakh company which counts Lukoil among its partners, and the Caspian pipeline consortium, based in Russia, Kazakhstan and includes Rosneft as one of its shareholders.

Gowling WLG, an international law firm, said that general licences are used to 'wind down or carve out tools' to allow projects to continue while sanctions are in place. This helps companies to manage compliance and avoid abrupt disruption. Zohr, operated by Italy's Eni and estimated to contain 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, is the largest field in the Mediterranean. However production is well below peak levels from 2019. Eni recently announced an investment of $8 billion in Egypt, and launched a Mediterranean drilling program to increase output. (Reporting and editing by Aidan Lewis; Sam Tabahriti)

(source: Reuters)