Egypt’s Zohr gas field, where Russia’s Rosneft holds a 30% stake, and bp owns 10%, was added to a list of projects that the UK has exempted from its sanctions on entities with Russian holdings, according to Reuters. 

Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia’s top oil producers, were sanctioned by Britain and the United States in October over their role in financing Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Now, no payments or business operations of  Zohr would be sanctioned according to the amendments the UK introduced on December 18 to its general licence for Russia sanctions. A general licence is an official government authorization that permits certain activities to continue despite normally being prohibited under sanctions. The British government gave no reason for granting Zohr this exemption.

Zohr is Egypt’s and the Mediterranean’s largest natural gas field with an estimated reserve of 30 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas. The field is operated by Italy’s Eni, which holds a 50% stake alongside Rosneft (30%), bp (10%), and Mubadala Petroleum (10%).

Other projects exempted by the licence include large oil and gas ventures in Russia, Kazakhstan, and the Caspian region. In an October sanctions package, the United States included general licences that allow ongoing work in major energy ventures such as Tengizchevroil in Kazakhstan, which includes Lukoil as a partner, and the Caspian Pipeline Consortium based in Russia and Kazakhstan, which counts Rosneft among its shareholders.