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as sanctions ratch-up daily, are we seeing a return to yesteryears, when the economies of Soviet Russia and Red China were hermetically sealed off from the West? the distortions are profound . . . .
New Sanctions to Stall Exxon’s Arctic Oil Plans
By STANLEY REED and CLIFFORD KRAUSSSEPT. 12, 2014
LONDON — Exxon Mobil’s ambitions in Russia appear to have been dashed, at least until the Ukraine crisis is resolved.
As part of the latest round of sanctions against Russia, the United States government took aim at Exxon’s project in the Arctic Ocean, ordering American companies to cut off exports to Russian oil exploration within 14 days.
The United States and Europe originally banned technology transfers that aided Russia’s deep water, Arctic offshore or onshore shale rock formation projects over the summer, but the language did not stop Exxon Mobil from starting drilling in the Kara Sea with a rig it had just moved. The new measures applied on Friday were meant to close those loopholes by also banning the export of goods and services.
Exxon said its lawyers were studying the sanctions. “We have to look at what was issued today” by the United States and the European Union “and determine how it affects us,” said Alan Jeffers, an Exxon spokesman.
U.S. and European Sanctions Take Aim at Putin’s Economic EffortsSEPT. 12, 2014
A compressor station operated by the Eustream company at Velke Kapusany, Slovakia. A reversal of the usual pipeline flow has sent gas from Slovakia to Ukraine.With Gas Cut Off, Ukraine Looks WestSEPT. 11, 2014
American officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the impact of sanctions on individual companies, said they recognized that Exxon Mobil lawyers might look for creative ways around the sanctions. But they said the government’s intention was to shut down the company’s operations in the Kara Sea.
Exxon’s Stephen Greenlee, left; Igor Sechin, right, head of Rosneft; and Vladimir Putin, rear. Credit Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters
The sanctions won’t hurt Exxon’s profit for years. Exxon, which is working with the Russian energy giant Rosneft, just started exploratory drilling in the Arctic, and it could be a decade before the project started producing oil in meaningful quantities.
But the sanctions, particularly if they last for an extended period, could damage Exxon’s relationship with Russia, crimping the company’s growth strategy. The Kara Sea project in the Arctic Ocean is a central piece of Exxon’s effort to gain new reserves and replace production lost in aging fields and in countries like Venezuela that have grown unfriendly to Western oil companies.
New Sanctions to Stall Exxon’s Arctic Oil Plans
By STANLEY REED and CLIFFORD KRAUSSSEPT. 12, 2014
LONDON — Exxon Mobil’s ambitions in Russia appear to have been dashed, at least until the Ukraine crisis is resolved.
As part of the latest round of sanctions against Russia, the United States government took aim at Exxon’s project in the Arctic Ocean, ordering American companies to cut off exports to Russian oil exploration within 14 days.
The United States and Europe originally banned technology transfers that aided Russia’s deep water, Arctic offshore or onshore shale rock formation projects over the summer, but the language did not stop Exxon Mobil from starting drilling in the Kara Sea with a rig it had just moved. The new measures applied on Friday were meant to close those loopholes by also banning the export of goods and services.
Exxon said its lawyers were studying the sanctions. “We have to look at what was issued today” by the United States and the European Union “and determine how it affects us,” said Alan Jeffers, an Exxon spokesman.
U.S. and European Sanctions Take Aim at Putin’s Economic EffortsSEPT. 12, 2014
A compressor station operated by the Eustream company at Velke Kapusany, Slovakia. A reversal of the usual pipeline flow has sent gas from Slovakia to Ukraine.With Gas Cut Off, Ukraine Looks WestSEPT. 11, 2014
American officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the impact of sanctions on individual companies, said they recognized that Exxon Mobil lawyers might look for creative ways around the sanctions. But they said the government’s intention was to shut down the company’s operations in the Kara Sea.
Exxon’s Stephen Greenlee, left; Igor Sechin, right, head of Rosneft; and Vladimir Putin, rear. Credit Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters
The sanctions won’t hurt Exxon’s profit for years. Exxon, which is working with the Russian energy giant Rosneft, just started exploratory drilling in the Arctic, and it could be a decade before the project started producing oil in meaningful quantities.
But the sanctions, particularly if they last for an extended period, could damage Exxon’s relationship with Russia, crimping the company’s growth strategy. The Kara Sea project in the Arctic Ocean is a central piece of Exxon’s effort to gain new reserves and replace production lost in aging fields and in countries like Venezuela that have grown unfriendly to Western oil companies.
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