Working with Russia
Exxon Mobil seeks a waiver of American sanctions.
Exxon Mobil is pursuing a waiver from Treasury Department sanctions on Russia so it may drill in the Black Sea in a venture with the Russian state oil company Rosneft, a former State Department official said Wednesday. An oil industry official confirmed the account.
The waiver application was made under the Obama administration, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity, and the company has not dropped the proposal.
The proposal is now before the Trump administration at a delicate time in Russian-U.S. relations, with rising tensions over the war in Syria and a looming congressional inquiry into reports of Russian efforts to influence the U.S. presidential election. Ukraine intervention
The appeal did not come up during Senate confirmation hearings of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was Exxon Mobil’s CEO before his appointment by President Donald Trump and was known to have a strong working relationship with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. At the time, Tillerson and other company officials said they had not lobbied against the sanctions, which were imposed on Russia for its military intervention in Ukraine.
But Tillerson and company officials did note that Exxon Mobil had received a waiver to complete drilling an exploration well in Russia’s Arctic waters. Company officials also disclosed that they had urged Obama administration officials to make U.S. sanctions consistent with European Union sanctions, which gave greater latitude to European companies to continue taking part in some Russian projects.
A State Department spokesman said Tillerson has recused himself from any matters involving Exxon Mobil for two years and is not involved with any decision involving the company before any government agency.
Asked about the waiver application, Alan Jeffers, an Exxon Mobil spokesman, said, “We don’t comment on ongoing issues.” A Treasury representative said the department would not comment on individual licenses or waiver requests.
The oil industry official said that the application was made in 2015, with Exxon Mobil arguing that it could lose its contractual exploration rights in the Black Sea if it did not begin drilling operations by the end of 2017. European companies, particularly Eni, the Italian giant, could then pick up the work.
The Russian news media quoted Zeljko Runje, Rosneft’s vice president for offshore projects, saying in June: “We are going to drill with Eni. That is our plan. On the Black Sea.” No consequences?
Environmentalists were quick to criticize the proposed waiver.
“Removing barriers to Exxon drilling in the Russian Black Sea with a statecontrolled company like Rosneft would not only jeopardize global progress on climate change and provide momentum for a similar waiver in the Russian Arctic,” said Naomi Ages, a spokeswoman for the Greenpeace. “It would also send a message to Russia that it can intervene in any country, including the United States, with no consequences.”