Exxon says Russia subsoil law key obstacle

MOSCOW, July 7 (Reuters) - U.S. oil major ExxonMobil (XOM.N) is looking to clinch new deals in Russia but sees the country's subsoil law, which limits foreigners' access to strategic fields, as the main obstacle, an executive said on Tuesday.

"We are looking for new agreements to build the relationship between IOCs and national oil companies," Neil Duffin, head of Exxon's project development unit, said ahead of a meeting of U.S. and Russian businessmen with U.S. and Russian Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev.

"We want the authorities to make amendments to the subsoil law. We always have discussions around that. It is not easy but hopefully we will make some breakthrough," he added. (Reporting by Simon Shuster, Moscow Newsroom, + 7 495 775 12 42, dmitri.zhdannikov@reuters.com)