Exxon Mobil Seeks U. S. Sanctions Waiver for Oil Project in Russia -<br />By CLIFFORD KRAUSSAPRIL 19, 2017<br />HOUSTON — Exxon Mobil is pursuing a waiver from Treasury Department sanctions on Russia to drill in the Black Sea<br />in a venture with Rosneft, the Russian state oil company, a former State Department official said on Wednesday.<br />Black Sea offshore drilling rights also were included in a sweeping strategic partnership<br />that Exxon, under Mr. Tillerson, signed with the Russian state oil company later that year.<br />The oil industry official said that the application had been made in 2015, with Exxon Mobil arguing<br />that it could lose its contractual exploration rights in the Black Sea if it did not begin drilling operations by the end of 2017.
