Exxon Held Secret Negotiations With Sanctioned Russian Oil Giant Rosneft Over Sakhalin Return

Exxon Mobil senior executive Neil Chapman held secret talks with Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin in Doha, Qatar, regarding Exxon’s potential return to the massive Sakhalin-1 oil development project in Russia. The negotiations occurred despite Rosneft being under U.S. sanctions for Russia’s war in Ukraine and followed Putin’s August 15 decree allowing foreign companies to again own shares in the Russian entity operating Sakhalin since Exxon’s 2022 exit. The talks, which required approval from both governments as part of a potential Ukraine peace process, coincided with the Trump-Putin Alaska summit on August 15, 2025. The timing of Putin’s decree and the secret corporate negotiations raised concerns about sanctions circumvention and U.S. policy potentially prioritizing corporate interests in Russian fossil fuel projects over support for Ukraine. Rosneft is one of Russia’s two largest oil companies funding the Kremlin’s war machine, and any Exxon return would represent a major breach in the Western sanctions regime designed to pressure Russia to end its invasion.