Sergei Stepashin said the top auditing body had completed a check into the current PSAs, and identified a number of violations related to implementation schedules and environmental protection. But he said appropriate recommendations had been made to the projects' operators, which were accepted.
On the Sakhalin I project off Russia's Pacific Coast, he said: "the matter is more or less closed. A review of Sakhalin-1 is not on the agenda anymore."
The audit chief said all questions concerning the Kharyaga project, led by French oil major Total, were also settled, and that the project made its first profit in 2006, which under the PSA terms is to be shared with the government. The project operator transferred $107 million to the state.
Total holds a controlling 50% stake in a consortium set up to run the Kharyaga project, which also includes Norway's Hydro (40%) and the Nenets Oil Company (10%), controlled by the regional government.
The Kharyaga oil field, with total reserves of 160.4 million metric tons (1.176 billion barrels), is one of three production-sharing agreements in Russia, along with Sakhalin-1 and -2.
Sakhalin-1 is expected to produce about 258 million metric tons (1.89 billion barrels) of oil and 356 billion cubic meters of natural gas during its lifespan.
