Gas for sale: Sakhalin-1 gas terminal
ExxonMobil still chatting with China
ExxonMobil is still in talks with China to sell natural gas from its Sakhalin-1 project in Russia to China, despite moves by Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom to block the move.
"We are in continuing dialogue with the Chinese to try to conclude that with a sale and purchase agreement," ExxonMobil senior vice president Mark Albers said during a speech at the CERA Week energy conference in Houston today.
"We are open to proposals from others to provide the most value. So while we are working with the Chinese we have also been in discussions with Gazprom," he said.
According to Reuters, Gazprom asked the Russian government in June to block ExxonMobil from selling Sakhalin gas in Asia, saying the output was needed for Russia's domestic market.
Last week, a Gazprom executive said the company expects to sign a deal to buy the entire annual gas output from the field in April or May.
Exxon's partners in the project are Russian state oil firm Rosneft, Japan's Itochu and Marubeni and India's ONGC.
"Our objective is to provide the most value to the Russian Federation government, our partners and our shareholders," Albers said.