US sanctions hit the strategic partners of Gazprom

Gazprom, which has been hardly touched by Western sanctions until now, has for the first time come under attack: the United States included its South-Kirinskoye gas condensate field on the shelf of Sakhalin Island into its blacklist. American companies are not allowed to supply equipment for the project, which calls into question not only its destiny. If the development of the South-Kirinskoye field stops and gas from it doesn’t go to LNG plant Sakhalin-2, the realization of this project and the strategic cooperation of Gazprom with the Anglo-Dutch Shell will be able to be threatened.

The American Official Gazette Federal Register has announced the expansion of the US sanctions against Russia. This time, a specific field – South-Kirinskoye gas condensate field on the shelf of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk (owned by Gazprom and included into the number of blocks of the Sakhalin-3project) was included into the sanctions list for the first time. Until now, only production of scavenger oil, oil in the Arctic and on shelf at the depth of over 150 meters (depth of the South-Kirinskoye field is 30-320 meters) were under sanctions. The USA explained the extension of the sanctions with the fact that, "as reported, there are significant reserves of oil". "Export, re-export and transfer of all items that are subject to export control for the field, according to the US government, contain risks of violations of the sanctions without first obtaining a license from the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)," - the Federal Register reported.