OREANDA-NEWS. ExxonMobil Russia Inc. intends to get the right to use ships under a foreign flag for seismic exploration and drilling in Russia. This was reported on Wednesday by Rossiyskaya Gazeta with reference to a letter from the head of the company to Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Akimov.

"President of ExxonMobil Russia Inc. Glenn Waller in a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Akimov of July 3 asks the Russian government to remove two administrative barriers. Thus, the company believes that the edition of the Merchant Shipping Code, which has been in operation since the beginning of 2018, threatens to delay the implementation of the Sakhalin oil and gas project -1 "and multi-million dollar costs of the Russian Federation, since the project is implemented on the terms of production sharing", the publication says.

Due to the fact that the code prohibits the use of floating drilling rigs and seismic survey vessels under a foreign flag for work on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation, Glenn Waller asks for amendments to the MWC, since drilling under the Russian flag isn't enough. As stated in the letter, this issue was discussed on June 6 in the framework of the US-Russia Business Council at SPIEF-2019 with the participation of ExilMobile Global Projects President Neil Dafin.

In a letter, Waller clarifies that the Ministry of Transport has already prepared a draft amendment to the code, which is sent to the government apparatus, writes the Russian media. In addition, ExxonMobil proposes to change the order of accreditation of branches of foreign companies in the Russian Federation. ExxonMobil is one of the most high-tech companies in the oil and gas sector. The company's most active growth is concentrated in the field of shale oil production, which requires the use of the most advanced technologies and equipment.