MOSCOW, March 11 (Reuters) - Oil production at Russia's

Far-Eastern Sakhalin-1 project, abandoned by U.S. major

ExxonMobil ( XOM ), continued to decline last year, falling by

10.3% due to planned maintenance, regional authorities said.

They didn't provide production volumes, which fell 9.8% in

2024.

Exxon took a $4.6 billion impairment charge on its 30%

operator stake in the project off Russia's Pacific coast in

April 2022, exiting Russian business after the start of the

conflict in Ukraine in February 2022.

India's ONGC Videsh and Japan's SODECO are also

stakeholders in the project.

Two sources familiar with the talks told Reuters in

September that Exxon and Russian state-run energy giant Rosneft

had signed a non-binding initial agreement aimed at

helping Exxon recoup its losses.

Russia has said it would welcome the return of companies

that pulled out of the country.

The Sakhalin administration also said that liquefied natural

gas production at the Sakhalin-2 project, led by Gazprom

, reached 10.3 million metric tons last year, up 1.1%

from 2024.

Japan's Mitsui ( MITSF ) and Mitsubishi ( MSBHF ) own a

combined 22.5% stake in Sakhalin-2.