US Oracle clamps down on Russia’s oil and gas sector - media

The US computer technology corporation Oracle has tightened conditions for providing products and services to Russian customers from the oil and gas industry included on the US sanctions list. 

Since January 29, Oracle has banned both new transactions, as well as extending, modifying and renewing existing contracts with them, the Kommersant newspaper wrote. The ban affected Gazprom, Surgutneftegas, Lukoil and Rosneft, their subsidiaries and foreign projects.

According to the company’s letter, the ban includes providing, exporting or re-exporting goods, services and technologies in support of deep-sea and Arctic offshore exploration, production or shale projects with oil production potential, if an entity is included on the US Directive No. 4 on sanctions. 

The ban applies to projects launched on January 29, 2018 or later. The letter is accompanied by a list of companies subject to sanctions with 283 names, including the enterprises of Gazprom, Rosneft, Lukoil and Surgutneftegas.

According to the newspaper, a complete ban on Oracle products would greatly harm the Russian oil and gas industry, as its dependence on foreign software is still significant.