The cabinet also agreed to seek approvals to finance operations through the Majnoon oilfield account, to be boosted by proceeds from crude shipments sold by state oil marketer SOMO.
Lukoil declared force majeure in November at West Qurna 2 as it was hit with sanctions alongside Rosneft as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's push to end the war in Ukraine.
Lukoil's 75% operational stake in Iraq's West Qurna 2 oilfield - one of the world's largest with output of around 470,000 barrels per day - was its biggest foreign asset.
The field accounts for about 0.5% of world oil supply and 9% of total output in Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia.
(Reuters, January 7, 2026)