ExxonMobil engaged in secret talks with Russia’s state-owned oil company about re-entering offshore drilling projects on the country’s Pacific coast, The Wall Street Journal reported. Exxon took a $4 billion loss on its investment in the Sakhalin project when it left Russia in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine, and saw its share in the project seized by the Russian government, a painful ending to what had been one of Exxon’s most high-stakes overseas investments ever.
Since then, US oil companies’ general appetite for expensive new overseas drilling projects has waned in the face of tepid prices, protracted court entanglements in Guyana, and a wave of government support for more drilling at home. Still, re-entering Russia would be a chance for Exxon to recoup losses. And it would be a major win for Moscow, which is keen to re-integrate with the Western energy market and in need of technical assistance and hardware from the West.