Kremlin creates new operator to exploit oil field inoperative since September

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The Russian government has created a new operator for the exploitation of the Russian oil and gas field Sakhalin-1, months after the U.S. oil company ExxonMobil decided to stop operating in the country due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, leaving the field inoperative for months.

This new operator will receive the rights and responsibilities of the participants in the project, of which ExxonMobil controlled 30 percent and operated with Russian, Indian and Japanese companies, as reported by the TASS agency.

Also, from now on, foreign participants in Sakhalin-1 projects must notify the Kremlin within one month of their consent to take stakes in the operator’s authorized capital in proportion to the same participation shares that were held by the U.S. company.

Earlier, the governor of Russia’s Sakhalin province, Valeri Limarenko, notified that natural gas extraction had been paralyzed since September 16. In addition, oil production ceased at Sakhalin-1.