--- description: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the administration will not issue waivers to any U.S. companies from the Russian sanctions title: The Treasury Department Won't Give Exxon Mobil a Waiver to Drill in Russia image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc70c32bc043fc610/6988c3f28e0601874846a0c9/gettyimages-670824690.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Foreign Policy](/tag/foreign-policy/) ## Foreign Policy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Treasury Department Won't Give Exxon Mobil a Waiver to Drill in Russia by [Lisa Marie Segarra](/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 21, 2017 7:55 PM CUT  Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Treasury secretary, speaks during a discussion at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) policy summit in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, April 20, 2017. Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Treasury secretary, speaks during a discussion at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) policy summit in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, April 20, 2017.Photograph by Andrew Harrer—Getty/Bloomberg by [Lisa Marie Segarra](/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 21, 2017 7:55 PM CUT The Treasury Department said it will not give Exxon Mobil a waiver to drill for oil in Russia despite U.S. sanctions against the country. [Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said](https://apnews.com/fffb793732a144c58a47ae67bf0fd3a5/US-Treasury-rejects-Exxon-Mobil-request-to-drill-in-Russia "undefined") Friday in a statement that the administration, “will not be issuing waivers to U.S. companies, including Exxon, authorizing drilling prohibited by current Russian sanctions,” according to the Associated Press. Exxon was seeking a waiver in order to continue drilling in the Black Sea, the AP reports. The company previously had an agreement with Russian oil company PAO Rosneft. [Exxon would not confirm](http://fortune.com/2017/04/20/exxon-mobil-russia-sanctions-tillerson/ "undefined") whether or not it was seeking the waiver at all earlier this month, Reuters reports. Exxon’s former chief executive Secretary of State Rex Tillerson lobbied against the sanctions in 2014. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) [called the request for a waiver “crazy”](http://time.com/4747426/john-mccain-exxon-oil-russia/ "undefined") last week in a tweet linking to a report by the Wall Street _Journal._ > [](https://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain/status/854789080625885186) The move comes as the FBI and Congressional intelligence committees are investigating Russian hacking that allegedly attempted to influence the 2016 presidential election, as well as possible contact between Russian officials and members of President Donald Trump’s campaign. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4750792/exxon-mobil-treasury-waiver-russia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4750792/exxon-mobil-treasury-waiver-russia/"},"headline":"The Treasury Department Won't Give Exxon Mobil a Waiver to Drill in Russia","datePublished":"2017-04-21T19:55:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:32:54.659Z","description":"The department said it will not issue any waivers to U.S. companies","url":"https://time.com/4750792/exxon-mobil-treasury-waiver-russia/","keywords":["Foreign Policy","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc70c32bc043fc610/6988c3f28e0601874846a0c9/gettyimages-670824690.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc70c32bc043fc610/6988c3f28e0601874846a0c9/gettyimages-670824690.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"exxon-waiver-denied","caption":"Key Speakers At The Institute Of International Finance Policy Summit","creditText":"Photograph by Andrew Harrer—Getty/Bloomberg","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/foreign-policy/","name":"Foreign Policy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4750792/exxon-mobil-treasury-waiver-russia/","name":"The Treasury Department Won't Give Exxon Mobil a Waiver to Drill in Russia"}}]}] ```