American Exxon Mobil confirms withdrawal from Russia

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 – PRIME The American oil and gas company Exxon Mobil Corp confirmed to RIA Novosti its withdrawal from Russia and called it “expropriation” the termination of its participation in the flagship Sakhalin-1 project.

In response to an inquiry from the agency, the company said the Russian government “unilaterally” liquidated its stake in the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project.

“I can confirm that we safely exited Russia after the expropriation… With two decrees, the Russian government unilaterally terminated our participation in Sakhalin-1 and the project was transferred to a Russian operator,” an Exxon Mobil spokesman wrote.

The company did not specify whether it received compensation for the assets, which are valued at more than $4 billion, and whether it intends to contest the losses through international arbitration.

The former operator of Sakhalin-1, Exxon Neftegaz Limited (a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil), which owns a 30% stake, announced in March its intention to withdraw from the project, and in April it introduced a force majeure regime, as a result of which production oil and gas was first reduced and then completely stopped. Other participants in Sakhalin-1 are Rosneft (20%), Japanese Sodeco (30%) and Indian ONGC (20%).

As a result, in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to create a new Russian operator of Sakhalin-1, which would take over the rights and obligations of Exxon Neftegaz Limited. The new Sakhalin-1 operator will be managed by the Rosneft structure Sakhalinmorneftegaz-Shelf, at least until all the stakes in the operator are distributed, after which the authority of the structure can be extended.