Page 10 - FSUOGM Week 09 2022

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM

ExxonMobil announces

Russian exit

RUSSIA EXXONMOBIL has announced its intent to gaining traction over the past year. As recently as
withdraw from one of the oldest and most suc- January, the partners were reportedly preparing
It has been hailed cessful international oil and gas projects in Rus- a tender for its construction.
as one of the most sia over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. ExxonMobil and other international oil
successful foreign The US oil major announced on March 1 companies (IOCs) resisted calls to scale back in
partnerships in the it would be departing from the Sakhalin-1 oil Russia after Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in
Russian oil industry. venture off the coast of Sakhalin Island in the 2014, although sanctions imposed in that year
Russian Far East, where it has served as operator prevented them from taking part in deepwater
since 1995. In its statement, the company said it and Arctic offshore projects. This spelled an end
“supports the people of Ukraine as they seek to to ExxonMobil’s activities in the Kara Sea, where
defend their freedom and determine their own it had discovered the 1bn barrel Pobeda oil dis-
future as a nation” and “deplores Russia’s mili- covery with Rosneft in September 2014.
tary action that violates the territorial integrity Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last
of Ukraine and endangers its people.” week has led to a much firmer response by
Sakhalin-1 consists of the Chayvo, Odoptu the IOCs. BP, Equinor and Shell have already
and Arkutun-Dagi offshore oilfields, which announced their intention to leave the coun-
flowed a combined 230,000 barrels per day of oil try, although TotalEnergies has said it will
and over 12bn cubic metres of natural gas last only refrain from investing in new projects
year, according to Russian energy ministry data. in the country, while keeping its existing
ExxonMobil holds a 30% stake in the venture, operations.
while Russia’s state-owned Rosneft has 20%, Jap- Austria’s OMV has only said it will scrap
anese consortium SODECO has 30% and India’s plans to expand its stake in Gazprom’s Achimov
ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has 20%. 4A/5A project in Western Siberia, and review its
ExxonMobil also said it would not invest in involvement in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
any new projects in Russia. The announcement Shell has departed from Nord Stream 2, whose
could signal a death knell for Rosneft’s long-de- operator has reportedly filed for insolvency.
layed plan to build a 6.2mn tonne per year LNG Germany's Wintershall DEA, which shares
terminal at the nearby De-Kastri oil port on the very close ties with Gazprom and is a partner in
coast of the Khabarovsk region. The Russian several oil and gas projects in Russia, is yet to say
company has been discussing the project with whether it will reconsider its business activities
Rosneft since 2013, but it finally showed signs of in the country. ™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 09 02•March•2022