MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - If French oil major Total fixes all the violations it has committed while developing the Kharyaga oil field in Russia's extreme north, the Natural Resources Ministry will have no more claims against the company, minister Yury Trutnev said Friday.
"If the violations are rectified, nothing further will be demanded from the company," he said.
The minister said "concrete evidence of the violations" was exposed relating to the company's failure to meet its targets for "prospecting, drilling and production."
Total has been developing the Kharyaga deposit in the Nents autonomous area in West Siberia under a production-sharing agreement signed in 1995 that came into force January 1, 1999. Total owns a 50% stake in the project, alongside Norway's Hydro (40%) and Russia's Nenets Oil Company (10%).
Russia's authorities have been stepping up pressure in recent months on oil projects developed by foreign and domestic companies, raising speculations over the Kremlin's alleged attempt to increase state control over the energy sector.
In September, the Natural Resources Ministry withdrew a key environmental permit for the huge Sakhalin II oil and gas project, which is being implemented under a production-sharing agreement dating back to 1994.
In late September, the ministry also announced planned probes into another production-sharing agreements, the Kharyaga deposit, and the Kovykta gas project in East Siberia, developed by the Anglo-Russian joint venture TNK-BP.
Trutnev warned of a possible revocation of licenses from companies that violate legislation or provisions of agreements on production at mineral deposits.
He pledged the ministry will continue to demand compliance with licensing agreements and to "monitor their implementation."
Trutnev said companies may not necessarily know all the specifics of deposits in the initial development stages, which is why they must introduce timely changes by updating figures and rationalizing projects.
He said and gas companies will be given six months to update licensing agreements
