A Lukoil logo at a gas station in Moscow on October 28. Olesya Kurpyayeva/AFP/Getty Images

The Iraqi government says it can no longer work with Russian oil company Lukoil – which has a huge stake in the country’s oil fields – because of recently imposed US sanctions against the company.

Lukoil has told Iraq’s state oil company SOMO that it is declaring force majeure – citing circumstances beyond its control for its inability to fulfill its contract – according to Oil Ministry spokesman Abdul Sahib Bazoun al-Hasnawi.

Lukoil has a 75% stake in the giant West Qurna-2 field in southern Iraq, which produces more than 400,000 barrels of crude oil a day. Overall, its overseas assets are valued at more than $20 billion.

Al-Hasnawi told CNN that Lukoil was unable to pay the salaries of hund

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