Oracle limits its work with Russian oil companies due to sanctions
Oracle, an American, multinational, computer technology corporation warned Russian oil companies that they would tighten the requirements for cooperation with them, the newspaper Kommersant, citing the corporation’s letter dated January 12. The list attached to the letter includes 283 companies including Gazprom, Rosneft, Lukoil and Surgutneftegas.
The letter refers to the ban by American authorities on deals related to deep water and Arctic offshore exploration technologies if they involve companies specified in Directive Number 4 of the US Sectoral sanctions of September 12, 2014.
Since November 31, 2017, this Directive has been extended to all projects of Russian companies, not only offshore ones. The projects which started from November 29, 2018, are subject to the ban. Renewal, modification or extension of existing contracts is not allowed. An exception was made for the financial service sector.
Russian oil companies are still highly dependent on American software. They use Oracle Primavera for extractive projects management. One interlocutor of Kommersant in Russian fuel and energy complex noted that a total ban on Oracle software would cause great damage to the sector.
The limitations were imposed mostly on distributors. “Vendors, distributors and resellers work closely in each sanction case. Often, solutions that satisfy all parties both legally and economically are found. In the simplest terms, the work is ongoing, there is no panic,” the interlocutor involved in the process assured.
Russian Federal agencies also rely on the American software systems. As of autumn, 2017, 38.6% used Microsoft’s data base management system and 25.4% used Oracle. Only 2.9% use Russian-made systems. In September, Moscow purchased Oracle Software for 480 million rubles or about 8 million US dollars.