The UK government has officially excluded Egypt's Zohr gas field from its sanctions targeting Russian energy companies, adding the project to a growing list of economic carve-outs.
The move, reported by Reuters on Wednesday, underscores the selective enforcement of Western sanctions when strategic interests are involved.
According to the report, Britain amended its general license to permit continued financial transactions and commercial activities associated with the Zohr field until October 2027. The updated license provided no official justification for the exemption.
Russian energy giant Rosneft owns a 30% stake in Zohr, while BP, headquartered in the UK, holds another 10%. Italian oil major Eni, which discovered the field in 2015, operates Zohr and retains the controlling interest.
Both Rosneft and fellow Russian oil firm Lukoil were sanctioned in October by the UK and US, part of broader Western efforts to cripple Moscow’s oil revenues and pressure it to end its war on Ukraine. Yet the UK's decision to allow continued dealings at Zohr reveals the malleability of these sanctions when key economic or political relationships are at stake.
Zohr is Egypt’s largest natural gas field and one of the most significant discoveries in the Mediterranean, with reserves estimated at 30 trillion cubic feet. The field played a pivotal role in Egypt reaching temporary gas self-sufficiency in 2018.
However, production has declined in recent years. Egypt now produces about 4.5 billion cubic feet per day, while domestic demand hovers around 6 billion, triggering repeated blackouts and disruptions in industrial sectors.
The UK's exemption came on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced final approval of a massive gas export deal with Egypt. The agreement, worth 112 billion shekels (around $34.7 billion), extends the volume and duration of Israeli gas exports to Egypt through 2040.
Netanyahu hailed it as “the largest gas deal in the history of Israel,” claiming it would funnel $18 billion directly into Israeli state revenues.
The juxtaposition of these two developments—the exemption of a Russian-linked gas field and Israel’s deepening energy ties with Egypt—highlights the region’s entanglement in a global energy market shaped more by alliances and interests than by legal consistency or accountability.
