Moscow — Russian government approved rules for the valuation and sale of Exxon Mobil’s share in the Sakhalin-1 project, the TASS news agency reported on Friday.
Exxon took an impairment charge of $4.6 billion in April 2022 for its Russian activities and said it was working with partners to transfer Sakhalin-1’s operations after Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in February last year.
TASS said on Friday that according to the decree, Exxon’s stake in Sakhalin-1 could only be acquired by a Russian company proposing the highest bid while meeting certain criteria.
Exxon held a 30% operator stake in Sakhalin-1, with Russian company Rosneft, India’s ONGC Videsh and Japan’s SODECO as partners.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree last October, establishing a new operator for the Exxon-led Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project.
Under the decree, the Russian government established a Russian company, managed by Rosneft subsidiary Sakhalinmorneftegaz-shelf, that owned investors’ rights in Sakhalin-1. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Editing by Louise Heavens)