Rex Tillerson/EM - US Secretary of State - Russia & Oil Up?
ExxonMobil – an efficient, powerful, ethic and successful company in Russia. My 3 years experience in Sakhalin 1 - sub Arctic offshore $12bn project and the first oil 2005. Would you agree on the following forecast:
1) sanctions up
2) EM – back to Kara Sea
3) oil prices up?
More on this subject below:
Ties with Russia
Tillerson has close ties with President Vladimir Putin of Russia.[17] They have been associates since Tillerson represented Exxon’s interests in Russia during President Boris Yeltsin's premiership.[18] John Hamre, the President and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, of which Tillerson is a board member, states that Tillerson "has had more interactive time with Vladimir Putin than probably any other American, with the exception of Dr. Henry Kissinger."[18]
Tillerson is a friend of Igor Sechin,[19] the leader of the Kremlin's Siloviki faction,[20] who is "widely believed to be Russia's second-most powerful person" after President Putin.[21]
In 2011, on behalf of ExxonMobil, Tillerson signed an agreement with Russia for drilling in the Arctic that could be valued up to $300 billion.[22] The company began drilling in the Kara Sea in the Summer of 2014, and a round of sanctions against Russiaintroduced in September that year due to the Ukrainian crisis was to have brought the project to a halt in mid-September.[23][24][25] Nevertheless, the company was granted a reprieve that stretched the window to work until October 10, which enabled it to discover a major field with about 750 million barrels of new oil for Russia.[26]
In 2013, Tillerson was awarded the Order of Friendship by President Vladimir Putin of Russia.[13
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Tillerson
…Under its chief executive, Rex W. Tillerson, the giant oil company sidestepped Baghdad and Washington, signing a deal directly with the Kurdish administration in the country’s north. The move undermined Iraq’s central government, strengthened Kurdish independence ambitions and contravened the stated goals of the United States.
...Mr. Tillerson’s willingness to cut a deal regardless of the political consequences speaks volumes about Exxon Mobil’s influence. In the Iraq case, Mr. Tillerson and his company outmaneuvered the State Department, which he has now been nominated by President-elect Donald J. Trump to lead.
...As America’s biggest oil company, with operations on six continents and a stock market value of more than $390 billion, Exxon Mobil is in some ways a state within a state. While Mr. Tillerson has never officially been a diplomat, he has arguably left an American footprint on more countries than any nominee before him — with an agenda overseas that does not always mesh with that of the United States government.
...Under Mr. Tillerson, Exxon Mobil has struck lucrative deals with repressive governments in Africa, clashed with China and befriended Vietnam over disputed territory in the South China Sea, learned from hard experience in Venezuela, and built a close rapport with Russia at a time of deepening mistrust between the Kremlin and the West.
...Mr. Tillerson has had success guiding his company through the rough-and-tumble politics of the Russian oil business.
Exxon Mobil executives said Mr. Tillerson was not available for an interview. But they argued that he and Mr. Putin are not friends, countering criticism in the United States that Mr. Tillerson is too close to Russia to take a strong stance against it. Mr. Putin awarded Mr. Tillerson a medal of friendship for concluding corporate deals in Russia.
Not long after, the United States imposed sanctions on Russia’s oil industry in 2014 over Moscow’s deadly intervention in Ukraine, leading American foreign policy and the company’s investment goals to diverge. Exxon Mobil now has billions of dollars in deals that will move forward only if the sanctions are lifted.
Some officials and executives argue that Mr. Tillerson’s business-minded approach to Russia could ease tensions, a view questioned by many diplomats, rights groups and advocates of disarmament.
Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to Mr. Putin, praised Mr. Tillerson, saying Russia was ready to find a way out of the “ridiculous condition” between the two great powers. “We want out of this crisis situation,” he said.
...In West Africa, Exxon Mobil has made lucrative deals with the government of Equatorial Guinea, which arbitrarily detains and tortures critics, disregards elections, and has faced international prosecution for using oil profits to enrich the president’s family.
...Mr. Page said that Mr. Tillerson’s experience in negotiating deals around the world would help him in the role of America’s top diplomat. “Exxon has this reputation as being take-no-prisoners in terms of its negotiations in other countries, and Tillerson was the big hitter,” he said. “He would fly around the world negotiating these deals with foreign heads of state. From that viewpoint, he’s a natural for secretary of state.”
...But Robert M. Gates, who served as secretary of defense under President Obama and President George W. Bush, said he had recommended Mr. Tillerson to Mr. Trump. Mr. Gates said Mr. Tillerson would be more than capable as America’s top diplomat: “I think Rex is a hard-eyed realist, and I think he will absolutely put America’s interests first in any negotiation.” ...
Original Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/world/americas/tillersons-company-exxon-mobil-follows-its-own-foreign-policy.html?_r=0
