The US has refused to grant Exxon Mobil an exemption from Russian sanctions, meaning the oil giant cannot resume drilling in the region.
The company have been unable to operate in the region since the US and the European Union imposed sanctions in 2014. The company had applied for an exemption from the controls but it will not be granted, the US Treasury Department confirmed on Friday.
“In consultation with President Donald J Trump, the Treasury Department will not be issuing waivers to US companies, including Exxon, authorising drilling prohibited by current Russian sanctions”, said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Exxon had filed its request with the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2015 during the Obama administration, but became public last week when published by the Wall Street Journal.
The company’s former chief, Rex Tillerson, is now Trump’s Secretary of State, creating controversy after it was alleged that Tillerson had close ties to senior figures in the Russian government.
Sanctions have been in place between the East and West countries since Russia’s annexation of Crime three yeas ago, as well as its role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.