Exxon Mobil Corp said on Wednesday that its Russian unit Exxon Neftegas Ltd has declared force majeure for its Sakhalin-1 operations, where it has become increasingly difficult to ship crude out of due to sanctions on Russia.

The Sakhalin-1 project produces oil off the coast of Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East. Exxon is discontinuing its operations there following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Project stakeholders, which include Exxon and India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp, are having difficulty chartering tankers to ship oil out of a region that generally needs ice vessels to navigate the journey. That is because of growing concerns from shippers over reputational risk and the increasing difficulty for Russian assets to find insurance coverage.

"As a result, Exxon Neftegas Ltd has curtailed crude oil production," a spokesperson said in response to an e-mail query from Reuters.

(Reporting By David Gaffen and Florence Tan Editing by Marguerita Choy)