ExxonMobil considers the creation of the Russian operator Sakhalin-1 a violation of their rights

The decision of the Russian government to create an operator for the Sakhalin-1 project violates the rights of the American ExxonMobil under a production sharing agreement. The company believes that Russia unilaterally terminated its participation in Sakhalin-1 and transferred the project to a Russian operator.

“While recent decisions violate our rights in Russia under our Production Sharing Agreement and interrupted the exit process we were working on, this did not stop us from safely winding down our operations,” said in comments to the meeting with investors published on the website. ExxonMobil.

The company added that despite the decision of the Russian side, they do not see additional costs due to the withdrawal from Sakhalin-1.

The former operator of Sakhalin-1 Exxon, whose share was 30%, in March announced plans to leave Russia due to a special operation. Production at the project stopped in May. By data Kommersant, this happened due to Exxon’s refusal to ship oil to Sovcomflot tankers. In October the company announced about leaving Russia.

In August, the company said it was working on transferring rights to the project to an unnamed third party. In the same month, companies from unfriendly countries were banned from buying and selling stakes in strategic enterprises, as well as some other projects, including Sakhalin-1. In October, the government created a Russian operator for the project, and shares in it should be proportionally distributed in accordance with their participation in the project. Exxon owns 30% in Sakhalin-1.

More about the situation – in the material “Kommersant” “There are no comrades at the risk and risk”.

Olesya Pavlenko