MOSCOW, January 22 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's technical standards body, Rostekhnadzor, said Monday it has approved an environmental expert study of the project to drill wells at the Kovykta gas condensate deposit in East Siberia for a term of five years.
Rusia Petroleum, whose stakeholders are TNK-BP (64.4%), Interros (25.82%), and the Irkutsk regional administration (11.24%), holds the license to develop the Kovykta gas field, which has proven reserves of 2 trillion cubic meters. Rusia Petroleum has prepared a project for gas deliveries to consumers in the south of the Irkutsk Region.
The project involves a set of measures to equip the central part of the Kovykta deposit. It aims to put 18 wells into operation, build a facility to extract condensate from gas mixtures and prepare gas for the trunk pipeline.
At the same time, Anatoly Ledovskikh, head of the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use (Rosnedra), said December 21 his agency considers it necessary to check compliance with licensing agreements on the Kovykta gas field. According to him, the Russian-British joint venture TNK-BP has failed to manage its licenses properly.
Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of the Federal Service for the Oversight of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor) said January 18 the probe will start before the end of the spring.
