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Initial deadline for Exxon stake sale was Jan. 1 2025

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Trump will take office on Jan. 20

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Putin said some US companies sought to return to Russia

(Recasts headline, adds detail)

MOSCOW, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir

Putin signed a decree on Monday extending the sale period for

Exxon's stake in Russia's Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project

for one year until Jan. 1 2026.

In 2022, Exxon took a $4.6 billion impairment charge for

exiting the development in the Pacific island of Sakhalin, its

largest investment in Russia, after the start of what Moscow

calls a special military operation in Ukraine.

Exxon Mobil Corp ( XOM ) held a 30% operator stake in Sakhalin-1,

with Russian company Rosneft, India's ONGC Videsh

and Japan's SODECO as partners.

Exxon did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

It's not clear why the sale period was extended. It was due

to expire on Jan. 1, 2025, according to the decree signed in

October 2022.

Donald Trump becomes U.S. President on Jan. 20. Putin said

last month that Moscow was ready for dialogue with the

Republican president-elect, while also saying that he saw

signals that some U.S. companies sought to return to Russia.

As of March 2024, the corporate exodus from Russia since the

conflict in Ukraine started had cost foreign companies more than

$107 billion in writedowns and lost revenue, a Reuters analysis

of company filings and statements showed.

In August 2022, Putin also signed a first decree that Exxon

said made a secure and environmentally safe exit from Sakhalin-1

difficult. The U.S. producer reacted to that decree by issuing a

"note of difference", a legal step before arbitration.