US rejects ExxonMobil request to return Russia

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) - ExxonMobil's request to return to Russia for oil and natural gas drilling was rejected Friday, according to the Treasury Department.

The agency said it cannot grant special permission nor any waiver to American energy firms, including ExxonMobil, for oil and gas drilling in Russia because of existing sanctions.

ExxonMobil's bid to return to Russia was made one month after former CEO Rex Tillerson became the U.S.'s Secretary of State in February, according to reports.

Russian oil giant Rosneft and ExxonMobil began cooperation on oil and gas resources exploration in the Kara Sea in the Arctic in 2012.

But with rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine in 2014, western powers, including the U.S., imposed economic and technological sanctions against Moscow.

After the Treasury Department ordered ExonMobil to "wind down" its operations in Russia in September 2014, the oil giant left the country the following month.

U.S. energy companies pioneered technologies such as "hydraulic fracturing" and "horizontal drilling" that are crucial for extracting oil and gas resources from shale formations.

Western sanctions prevents such technologies, and others, to be used by, and transferred to Russian companies.

Kara Sea is estimated to hold 87 billion barrels of oil, according to Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin.