UPDATE 2: Exxon to quit joint projects with Rosneft over sanctions

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WASHINGTON, Mar 1 (PRIME) -- U.S. oil company Exxon Mobil will quit its joint projects with Russian oil major Rosneft in 2018 due to the U.S. and E.U. sanctions against Russia, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

The company estimates its losses from the decision at U.S. $200 million.

Exxon Mobil and Rosneft earlier established several companies to conduct geological exploration and research.

Spokesman for Rosneft Mikhail Leontyev said that the U.S. company’s decision was an expected one. “I would like to draw your attention to the fact that this does not mean curtailing of the cooperation in general, only the shelf drilling, the current projects which cannot be frozen because Exxon cannot fulfill the liabilities. It is okay, this is an unsurprising thing, it was bound to happen.”

Russian trade representative to the U.S. Alexander Stadnik said that the situation with Exxon Mobil proves that the sanctions against Russia harm the U.S. business. “They may tell us as much as they want about multibillion losses of the Russian defense industry due to the U.S. sanctions. But the situation with ExxonMobil signifies the opposite, that the creators of the sanctions apply dictatorial methods to the U.S. business, they shoot it in the leg.”

Rosneft said in a statement that it would continue working on projects that Exxon Mobil left. “Rosneft will continue standalone development of these projects and will support the return of Exxon Mobil into them when a legal opportunity for that emerges. The company will continue working with Exxon Mobil on projects that are not subject to existing restrictions,” Rosneft said.

The two companies will coordinate legal formalization of Exxon Mobil;s withdrawal to minimize financial damage for all shareholders of the companies, Rosneft said.

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