Bloomberg, 24 March 2010 — OAO Lukoil, the Russian oil producer with the most overseas assets, abandoned work in Iran because of the threat of U.S. sanctions, while saying it may still return to the Persian Gulf nation.

Lukoil, a minority partner in the Statoil ASA-led Anaran project, took a $63 million impairment loss in December “due to the incapability of undertaking further works because of the threat of economic sanctions of the U.S. government,” according to its 2009 financial statements published today.

The Moscow-based oil producer is vulnerable to sanctions as it owns a network of U.S. filling stations with Houston-based ConocoPhillips, which plans to sell half its 10 percent stake in Lukoil in two years.

“We aren’t saying goodbye,” Andrei Kuzyaev, head of Lukoil’s overseas arm, said today during a presentation in London. “It’s just the principal position of our auditors and doesn’t mean that we lose the rights to that project.”

If political and economic conditions are favorable, Lukoil is ready to return to the project, Kuzyaev said.

The Iran Sanctions Act, intended to deny the oil-rich Persian nation resources to further its nuclear program or support U.S. identified terrorist organizations, forces companies to choose between the U.S. and Iran. Companies investing over $20 million a year in Iran’s energy sector are subject to U.S. restrictions.