The Kremlin kicked Exxon Mobil out of a major Russian oil and gas project and transferred stakes in the Texas oil giant to a Russian entity, according to a US company.
Moscow blocks Exxon’s XOM,
After several months of trying to sell off its 30% stake by transferring control of the Sakhalin-1 operation in the Russian Far East, Exxon’s stake has now completely disappeared. As a result, Exxon has pulled out of Russia, the company said Monday.
The Kremlin gave no indication that it would pay Exxon for the value of its shares. Exxon said it was left with legal options under production-sharing agreements and international arbitration law.
The largest US oil company pledged in March to leave Russia shortly after the invasion of Ukraine and said it would not make any further investments in the country. It has decades of ties with Russia, but pulled out of at least 10 other joint ventures after the US and its allies imposed sanctions on Russia following the 2014 invasion of Crimea. 1 was not subject to these sanctions.
Exxon declared force majeure in April, cutting oil and gas production from its Sakhalin island development from 220,000 barrels per day to about 10,000 barrels per day. Also, in the first quarter, he had accounting charges of $3.4 billion related to exiting Russia.
A larger version of this report is available on WSJ.com.
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