Russian oil and gas company Zarubezhneft is planning to divest its stake in the Tuna gas project located off Indonesia in the South China Sea, reported Reuters, citing Indonesia’s upstream regulator SKK Migas.

Currently, Premier Oil Tuna (the Harbour Energy group of companies) operates the Tuna block PSC with a 50% stake. ZN Asia (the Zarubezhneft Group of Companies) owns the remaining 50% stake in the block.

This latest move comes after Harbour Energy said the sanctions imposed by the EU and the UK on Russia as a response to Moscow’s incursion of Ukraine have impacted its subsequent progress, reported the news agency.

The British company, Harbour, said the sanctions have also limited its “ability as operator to provide certain services to Russian entities”.

The company said: “Harbour is now assessing its options with regards to Tuna to enable the project to progress.”

SKK Migas senior official Benny Lubiantara said at a press conference: “ZN (Zarubezhneft) Russia will farm out, it is being processed. Of course Harbour will meet [a] new partner, but we do not know yet who will that be.”

Earlier this year, SKK Migas approved the initial development plan for the Tuna offshore gas field, which is due to start production in 2026. The Tuna Block is located in the Indonesian exclusive economic zone, 13km from the border of the Vietnamese marine economic zone.

The field is expected to have a peak production capacity of 115 million cubic feet of gas per day.