Oil giant ExxonMobil has announced a withdrawal from Russia

American oil giant ExxonMobil on Tuesday announced its gradual withdrawal from its major oil field as an operator in Russia and will no longer invest in the country, thus following the example of some international competitors.

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ExxonMobil has been operating the Sakhalin-1 project since 1995 on behalf of a consortium of Russian company Rosneft, an Indian company and a Japanese company subsidiary, located in eastern, northern Japan and owning 30% of the country.

“In response to recent events, we have begun the process of closing operations and taking steps to gradually exit this oil project,” the group said in a statement.

In view of the situation, he also chose not to invest in new projects in Russia.

The American group thus follows the example of British groups specific international competitors such as Shell and BP, which also plan to split their stakes in several joint ventures with Russian companies.

French Total Energies leaned towards the status quo by deciding not to leave Russia, but not to invest more money there.

ExxonMobil insists its withdrawal will not happen immediately.

“As an operator of Sakhalin-1, we have a responsibility to ensure public safety, environmental protection and the integrity of our operations,” the group explained.

“The shutdown process should be carefully managed and closely coordinated with co-ventures to ensure it is implemented safely,” he said.

The group, which withdrew from the two joint ventures after the imposition of previous sanctions on Russia in 2014, is the only major Sakhalin-1 project in Russia that still has ExxonMobil.

The group recently stated on its website that it has offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg and has about 1,000 employees there.