ExxonMobil Corporation Settles Charges of Unlicensed Re-Exports to Sudan

The U.S. Department of Commerce today announced that ExxonMobil Corporation of Fairfax, Va., agreed to pay civil penalties totaling $49,500 to settle charges that affiliates of the former Mobil Oil Corporation, located in Texas, the United Kingdom, and Egypt participated in or were otherwise liable for the unauthorized re-export of computers and related hardware to Sudan. These exports were made in violation of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and a trade embargo in place since 1997.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) charged that on three occasions between June 1999 and February 2000, Mobil Services Company Ltd. and Mobil Oil Egypt caused the re-export of computer servers and laptop computers to a Mobil Oil subsidiary in Sudan without the required export licenses. The computer equipment was controlled for export to Sudan for anti-terrorism reasons and in support of the trade embargo against Sudan . The Mobil Oil affiliates in London and Egypt were also charged with failure to retain export control documents as required by the EAR.    

The United States imposed the Sudan embargo based on the finding that the policies and actions of the Government of Sudan, including its continued support for international terrorism, ongoing efforts to destabilize neighboring governments, and the prevalence of human rights violations, including slavery and the denial of religious freedom, constituted an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.

ExxonMobil voluntarily self-disclosed the violations and cooperated fully in the investigation. Self-disclosure is a mitigating factor in determining penalties for violations of the EAR.

Acting Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Wendy L. Wysong commended the Office of Export Enforcement’s Washington Field Office for its work on this investigation.

The Department of Commerce administers and enforces export controls for reasons of national security, foreign policy, nonproliferation, anti-terrorism, and short supply through the EAR. Criminal prosecution and administrative sanctions can be imposed for violations of those regulations.