Russia's energy minister said on Wednesday the recovery of oil production at the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project in Russia's Far East would depend to a large extent on the position of ExxonMobil, Russian news agencies reported.
ExxonMobil said in an August filing that it was in the process of transitioning its 30% stake in a Russian oil development "to another party", joining several other Western energy firms in seeking to exit Russian operations.
Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov also said the government would like to see an oil production recovery this year, and that he expected Russian gas company Novatek to take part in the Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.
(Reuters - Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Edmund Blair)