President Donald Trump’s administration has denied a request from ExxonMobil to waive U.S. sanctions against Russia to allow the company to resume oil drilling around the Black Sea.
The Associated Press reports Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says in a brief statement that the administration “will not be issuing waivers to U.S. companies, including Exxon, authorizing drilling prohibited by current Russian sanctions.”
Exxon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The decision comes just two days after it was reported that ExxonMobil was seeking a waiver to resume a joint venture with Rosneft, a Russian state-owned oil company.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was ExxonMobil’s CEO before joining Trump’s cabinet. While there, he cultivated close ties with Rosneft and Russian officials including President Vladimir Putin. He also spoke against sanctions that were imposed in 2014 in response to Russia’s annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine.
The sanctions bar U.S. oil companies from transferring to Russia the advanced technology that is used to drill more efficiently offshore and in shale formations. Exxon has said in regulatory filings that the sanctions could lead to losses of up to $1 billion.
