Oil India Unable to Draw Dividends from Russian Fields Due to U.S. Sanctions

Oil India Limited (OIL), the state-owned oil and gas explorer, has $300 million in dividends from its stakes in Russian oilfields stuck at Russian banks and unable to withdraw, due to last week’s U.S. sanctions that hit the Rosneft-operated fields. The U.S. sanctions on JSC Vankorneft and Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha LLC (LLC TYNGD), in each of which Rosneft holds just over 50%, have complicated fund transfers, Oil India’s chairman Ranjit Rath told Reuters on Tuesday. OIL is seeking legal options to free up the dividends, Rath…