NEWS

Facing US Sanctions, Exxon Winds Down Drilling In Russian Arctic

by Reuters

Timothy Gardner

Friday, September 19, 2014

The top supporter in the US Congress for reversing the 40-year ban on crude oil exports, Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, said next year could be the time for a bill on lifting the restriction.

ExxonMobil says it will wind down drilling in Russia's Arctic in the face of US sanctions targeting Western cooperation with Moscow's oil sector.

Reuters

WASHINGTON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil said on Friday it will wind down drilling in Russia's Arctic in the face of U.S. sanctions targeting Western cooperation with Moscow's oil sector, after the Obama administration granted a brief extension to safely mothball its operations.

Washington intensified sanctions on Russia on Sept. 12 over its intervention in Ukraine. The measures seek to stop billions of dollars worth of cooperation between Western and Russian energy companies on oil drilling in Russia's Arctic, in Siberia and offshore. Companies have until Sept. 26 to stop the work.

The U.S. Treasury Department gave Exxon a short extension to wind down a rig, beyond the 14 days outlined in the sanctions, the Texas-based oil major said on Friday without elaborating.

"Following the short time extension, the license is non-renewable and no further work is permitted," Exxon spokesman Richard Keil told Reuters.

In July, Exxon began moving a rig called West Alpha from Norway to the Russian Arctic. The company is hoping for a major crude discovery in the Kara Sea with Russian state oil company Rosneft, with which it signed a $3.2 billion agreement in 2011 to develop the region.

Exxon said the Treasury granted a license to it and other U.S. contractors and individuals involved with the University-1 well, where the rig was drilling, "to enable the safe and responsible winding down of operations" related to the well.

The Treasury Department said it does not comment on license applications or requests.

The U.S. sanctions seek to slow Russia's future oil production by banning U.S. and European Union cooperation on all energy services and technology in Russia's unconventional oil fields.

Russia is one of the world's top crude producers and the biggest supplier to Europe, but its reservoirs are in decline and it must look to new sources to retain its positions.

Delays In The Kara Sea

Before Exxon ceases operations, it must take measures to stabilize the well that could include plugging it with cement.

Investment bank Simmons said the Kara Sea well, estimated to cost over $600 million, is one of the most important exploration prospects in the oil industry.

The stoppage could delay plans for fully developing the Kara Sea fields in 2016 and 2017. Drilling results from the well had been expected to be revealed later this year, Simmons added.

A drillship owned by North Atlantic Drilling Ltd, a unit of Seadrill Ltd, had reportedly been hired to do the work for more than half a million dollars per day.

Earlier on Friday, Russian Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi told Reuters that Exxon was continuing exploration drilling in the Kara Sea. He declined to provide details.

Sources close to the project have said Exxon has no U.S. personnel on the rig.

The prospect of sanctions on Russia has been a big issue for Exxon this year. It spent $6 million on lobbying the U.S. government in the first half of 2014, and listed Russian sanctions as one of its lobbying issues, according to disclosures filed to the U.S. Senate.

Exxon also paid about another $170,000 to four outside firms for lobbying in the second quarter, largely tied to Russian sanctions, the disclosures show.

Exxon shares were up about 0.7 percent in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner, additional reporting by Anna Driver and Terry Wade in Houston and Jason Lange and Anna Yukhananov in Washington; Editing by Ros Krasny, Jim Loney, Grant McCool and Paul Simao)