The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled Thursday to vote on a package of sanctions that would penalize all companies that finance Russian unconventional crude oil projects.
If passed, the sanctions would hit ExxonMobil, BP, Shell and other majors that have joint ventures with Russian companies to explore and drill in Arctic, deepwater and shale plays.
The penalties would include prohibiting the companies from any US government contracts and freezing their US assets.
The measures would add to the sanctions already imposed by the Obama administration, the latest of which prohibit US companies from supplying technology, services and goods for Russian unconventional projects, but specifically exempt financing.
The bill appears likely to pass the committee, given the hawkish sentiments of many members over the Ukraine separatist uprising. It would also have to pass the full Senate and the House of Representatives before being sent to President Barack Obama.
"In the face of Russian aggression, Ukraine needs our steadfast and determined support, not an ambiguous response," said Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who chairs the committee. "We are left with no choice but to apply tough sanctions against Russia."
The bill, released late Tuesday, would also impose sanctions on Russian gas giant Gazprom if it withholds "significant natural gas supplies from member countries of NATO or further withholds such supplies from countries such as Ukraine, Georgia or Moldova."
And it directs the Obama administration to help Ukraine with short-term emergency energy supplies, as well as develop medium- and long-term energy production plans, though it notably does not call for increased LNG exports to Ukraine, as some lawmakers have called for.
In addition, it authorizes US military assistance to Ukraine.
The committee's vote on the bill is scheduled for the afternoon, just after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko addresses a joint session of Congress. WHITE HOUSE HAS ASKED CONGRESS TO HOLD OFF ON NEW SANCTIONS
The US Treasury Department declined to comment on the bill, while the State Department's top energy official, Amos Hochstein, said the sanctions already imposed by the Obama administration are stiff.
Administration officials, who have maintained that executive powers give President Barack Obama sufficient leeway to enact aggressive sanctions, have previously asked Congress to hold off on passing additional sanctions against Russia, to preserve more flexibility in escalating pressure on Moscow.
"If Congress decides to vote on sanctions, we'll be in discussions with them about what is useful and how to better shape them," Hochstein said in an interview on "Platts Energy Week" that is scheduled to air Sunday.
Sanctions enacted by the Obama administration on Friday would require US companies to wind down by September 26 any partnerships they have with Russian companies, in which they have provided expertise and supplies for Arctic, deepwater and shale oil projects.
ExxonMobil and Russian state-owned Rosneft began drilling their first exploration well in the Arctic Kara Sea on August 9, under a strategic cooperation agreement they signed in 2011.
Analysts with ClearView Energy Partners said Congress may face political pressure to pass aggressive sanctions against Russia, to shore up their foreign policy credentials ahead of the November 4 mid-term elections.
"For this reason, we would not rule out the possibility that the bill could go all the way to the president's desk, potentially backed by veto-proof majorities in both chambers," the analysts said in a note to clients.
