washington/spring tx unite state make exception american company include oil major exxon mobil corp seek drill areas prohibit u.s. sanction russia treasury secretary steven mnuchin say friday unusually direct statement serve clarify unite state would maintain tough stance sanction moscow consultation president donald j. trump treasury department issue waivers u.s. company include exxon authorize drill prohibit current russian sanction mnuchin say statement unite state european union impose economic sanction russia annexation crimea region 2014 role conflict eastern ukraine sanction force exxon world large publicly trade oil producer wind drill russia arctic 2014 understand statement today secretary mnuchin consultation president trump exxon spokesman alan jeffers say exxon ask receive 2015 2016 waivers operate joint venture russian oil producer rosneft russia european union sanction keep european oil company operate russia point annoyance exxon wall street journal report week exxon recent months apply treasury department waiver drill rosneft jeffers say exxon apply waivers treasury since trump take office request would draw attention exxon former chief executive rex tillerson u.s. secretary state leadership exxon lobby congress russia sanction tillerson oppose sanction russia 2014 say would ineffective u.s. lawmakers investigate possible tie trump campaign aid moscow republicans congress well u.s. ally europe anxious sign trump administration might ease sanction impose russia confirmation hear january tillerson say never personally lobby sanction aware exxon mobil directly late acknowledge speak former u.s. treasury secretary jack lew regard gap american european sanction russia tillerson pledge recuse end year matter involve exxon mobil unless authorize participate also early may sell exxon mobil stock u.s. company frequently file license applications treasury department ask permission undertake activities would otherwise bar sanction u.s. government weigh application base national security interest law factor refusal unlikely affect exxon mobil bottom line able operate russia several years hind growth potential treasury almost never comment publicly license applications mnuchin statement likely serve clarify u.s. stance sanction russia time american ally look clue u.s. policy observers say good regulatory perspective provide clarity u.s. company also great foreign policy perspective edward fishman fellow atlantic council think tank former state department official obama administration say mnuchin statement uncertainty future sanction scar ally encourage russia prolong aggression ukraine u.s. give exxon permission drill russia