Exxon-Rosneft, secret talks for a return to Russia

The Wall Street Journal: ‘Confidential negotiations after the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska’

New York – Confidential talks are said to have taken place between ExxonMobil and Russia’s Rosneft to assess a possible return of the US energy giant to Russia. This was revealed by the Wall Street Journal, according to which the negotiations were initiated in parallel with the diplomatic dialogue between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

According to the financial newspaper, behind closed doors, the main oil companies of the two countries have already outlined a possible road map for resuming business, focusing on oil and gas fields off the Russian Far East. A senior Exxon executive reportedly discussed a return to the Sakhalin project if Washington and Moscow reached an agreement on the peace process in Ukraine.

The dossier is considered so sensitive that, according to the WSJ, only a handful of Exxon executives were aware of it. The talks were reportedly led by senior vice president Neil Chapman, who met with Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, a long-time ally of Putin, in Doha.

The resumption of commercial relations would mark a dramatic rapprochement after the breakdown following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But the talks also raise legal issues: Sechin is subject to US sanctions, which prohibit American citizens from dealing with him without specific authorisation from the US Treasury.

Qatar, which holds stakes in Rosneft through its sovereign wealth fund, is said to have facilitated the meetings by offering a neutral framework for mediation, a role it has already played in other international crises.

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