Unemployed engineers from northern Basra demonstrated today in front of the West Qurna 2 oil field operated by Russian company Lukoil on April 27, local news have reported.

The engineers have threatened to block access to oil fields and expel foreign workers if their demands are not met within two hours, Shafaq News reported .

The Russian company has not yet reported the incident, which appears to be part of a growing issue in the southern Basra area. The demonstration highlights ongoing tensions over local employment opportunities at foreign-operated oil installations in Iraq's oil-rich southern region.

Abu Al-Hassan Al-Shawi, the protesters' representative, stated: "Engineers in northern Basra have suffered from unemployment for decades, without receiving fair treatment or being included in job opportunities at oil fields located within their areas."

The protesters gave the government until 11:00 on April 27 to meet their demands. Al-Shawi confirmed the demonstration began this morning in front of the water injection project (Water Intake) at the West Qurna 2 field.

"If demands are not met within the specified time, protesters will storm the project, expel foreign workers, and northern Basra engineers will take control of operations," Al-Shawi said.

West Qurna-2, located 65km northwest of Basra, is one of the world's largest oil fields with initial recoverable reserves of approximately 14bn barrels. Lukoil holds a 75% interest in the field, while Iraq's North Oil Company holds 25%.

The field began commercial production on March 29, 2014, and currently produced around 400,000 barrels per day (bpd). Lukoil launched a second development phase in 2019 with plans to increase production to 480,000 bpd.