The United States and Russia continue to discuss economic cooperation, including in the Sakhalin 1 oil project, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergey Ryabkov, said on Wednesday.
Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev, is working on these issues with the U.S., Russia’s news agency Intefax quoted Ryabkov as telling reporters in Moscow.
“I can mention Sakhalin-1 as the most obvious example of discussions that have started,” Ryabkov said, adding there are other areas in which talks have been held.
“We are ready to deepen these discussions and are open specifically to practical cooperation,” the Russian official said.
Ahead of the Trump-Putin meeting in mid-August, Russia and the United States had reportedly discussed Exxon returning to the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas development project.
The potential energy agreements between the U.S. and Russia were proposed as an incentive for Putin to agree to peace in Ukraine and a path forward for the United States to ease sanctions on Moscow.
In the weeks following the Trump-Putin summit, no breakthrough has been achieved toward peace and President Trump has again expressed frustration with Putin.
Exxon quit the Sakhalin-1 project after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which triggered an exodus of foreign oil firms and service providers.
To coincide with the Trump-Putin meeting, Vladimir Putin amended his decree from 2022 giving full Russian ownership to Sakhlain-1, and opened the door to a return of foreign companies to the oil and gas project.
Back in 2022, Putin signed a decree to seize the Sakhalin-1 project, in which Exxon held a 30% stake.
Senior executives from Exxon discussed a potential return to the Sakhalin-1 project in secret talks with Russia’s oil giant Rosneft earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal reported at the end of August, quoting sources with knowledge of the talks.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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