The Federal Service for the Oversight of Natural Resources said last week it uncovered serious infringements of environmental law by LUKoil at 21 oil extraction sites in the Komi Republic and the neighboring Khanti-Mansi Autonomous Area in West Siberia, and demanded the revocation of their production licensing agreements.
The results of the service's inspection of LUKoil oil production sites have been submitted to the Prosecutor General's Office, the service's deputy head said Monday.
Oleg Mitvol said the agency suspects the company of using fraudulent documents.
He said that locals of the Komi town of Ust-Us have been witnessing black ice during spring drifts for 12 years, and he wanted to know why nothing was done for so many years to rectify the situation.
Mitvol bashed local government officials for conniving to violate environmental laws. He said an inspection of LUKoil production sites revealed that "an official had taken a drilling rig for a tree."
Mitvol said the service will conduct inspections without warning. "And I doubt that those officials who take bribes and confuse drilling rigs with trees will sleep well."
The Natural Resources Ministry said Monday the environmental watchdog also sent an inquiry to the Federal Tax Service on payments made by LUKoil for the use of deposits to which it holds licenses. LUKoil is currently exploring and producing oil and natural gas at 406 licensed sites in Russia, and 17 sites abroad.
Russia's environmental authorities have recently been upping the pressure on oil producers, although until last week these were mainly foreign companies. In September the Ministry of Natural Resources withdrew a key permit for the vast Sakhalin II hydrocarbon project in Russia's Far East, led by Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell.
Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev said his ministry will continue conducting ecology probes into oil companies operating in Russia.
"It is a normal process," he said. "We will make environmental requirements more stringent. And they will affect all oil companies, including LUKoil, Rosneft and TNK-BP."
