In early February, Rosnedra said Rusia Petroleum, the project's operator, could be stripped of its license for failing to comply with the terms of the license agreement and gave the company three months to rectify the violations. Similar warnings to Rusia Petroleum have been issued since 2004.
"The license agreement cannot be changed, if the process of license withdrawal has been initiated and a relevant report has been drawn up, this is prohibited by law. Relevant changes can only be made before a check is carried out," Anatoly Ledovskikh said, adding that Rusia Petroleum had failed to comply with the conditions of the license and produce gas in amounts specified in the license agreement.
Russia's natural resources ministry said in February that Rusia Petroleum had repeatedly requested that changes be made to the amounts specified in the license. The ministry said the main problem was that Rusia Petroleum, licensed to develop Kovykta with proven reserves of 2 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, was unwilling to meet its obligation to supply the areas around Kovykta with gas.
