Exxon Mobil may return to Russian oil and gas project Sakhalin-1, — WSJ
27.08.2025 - 16:25
The American oil giant Exxon Mobil, which withdrew from the Russian market in 2022, is considering a return.
The Wall Street Journal reports this, citing sources.
Thus, Exxon Mobil held secret talks in Qatar with the Russian oil company Rosneft regarding a possible return to the development of fields within the Sakhalin-1 project.
Exxon Mobil withdrew from Russia in 2022 – after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to the publication, the company has a license from the Ministry of Finance, which allows it to negotiate with the Russians regarding its blocked assets.
Earlier, on August 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree according to which foreign investors, including Exxon Mobil, can regain their shares in the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project. Putin signed the decree on the day of his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska.
The document stipulates that foreign shareholders must take steps to support the lifting of Western sanctions if they want to return their stake. They must also conclude contracts for the supply of necessary foreign-made equipment for the project and transfer funds to the accounts of the Sakhalin-1 project.
The American oil and gas company Exxon previously suffered losses of $4.6 billion, withdrawing from its Russian business after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In December 2024, Putin signed a decree allowing him to extend the term of sale of Exxon’s stake in the project until 2026.
According to the decree of October 2022, the new operator of the project was Rosneft’s subsidiary Sakhalinmorneftegaz-shelf, which gave the Russian government the opportunity to regulate the ownership rights of foreign investors in Sakhalin-1. Exxon previously held a 30% stake in the operator and was the only foreign investor to divest its stake.
Sakhalin-1 includes three oil and gas fields on the northeastern shelf of the peninsula: Chayvo, Odoptu and Arkutun-Dagi. Total reserves are estimated at 2.3 billion barrels of oil and 485 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
