Exxonmobil did not ask for permission to leave Sakhalin-1, Novak said

MOSCOW, Sep 1 — PRIME. American ExxonMobil did not apply to the Russian government for permission to withdraw from the Sakhalin-1 project, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.

“No, there were no appeals,” the deputy prime minister said, answering a question about the company’s request to withdraw from the project.

The decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, published on August 5, banned until the end of 2022 transactions with shares owned by persons from unfriendly countries in strategic companies of the Russian Federation and their subsidiaries, in the Sakhalin-1 project and the Kharyaginskoye field, in important subsoil user companies, in companies serving the Russian fuel and energy complex, as well as in Russian banks according to the list established by the president.

Last Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing ExxonMobil spokesman Casey Norton, that the American company recently sent a notice of disagreement to the Russian government due to the impossibility of withdrawing from the Sakhalin-1 project due to the effect of a new decree of the President of the Russian Federation and is already “taking steps to file a claim”, as it believes that the issue is unlikely to be resolved in the meantime.

A subsidiary of ExxonMobil remains the operator of the Sakhalin-1 project and owns a 30% stake in it. In March, she announced her intention to withdraw from the project, and in April she announced the introduction of a force majeure regime. As Rosneft, which owns a 20% stake in Sakhalin-1, reported, due to the actions of the American company, production on it was practically stopped. On August 3, ExxonMobil said it was working on transferring its operating activities for the project to another, unnamed legal entity. Also, the shareholders of Sakhalin-1 are the Japanese Sodeco (30%) and the Indian ONGC (20%).