France's Total oil company was undergoing a second probe into compliance with technological and environmental requirements of its operating license for the lucrative Kharyaga oil field in northern Russia. A regulator said the license could be revoked.
"Yesterday I saw the signed act [report], which the company will be receive soon," Oleg Mitvol said.
Mitvol said insufficient oil production as part of the project was a violation. He added the results, which will soon be passed on to the Federal Agency for the Management of Mineral Resources, did not contain a recommendation to revoke the license.
Late last year, the regulator initiated license revocation discussions on Kharyaga after discovering that the operator had failed to follow field development recommendations, including the gas drive recovery process, burning up 60% of the natural gas produced in 2005.
Total owns a 50% stake in the project, alongside Norway's Hydro (40%) and Russia's Nenets Oil Company (10%).
The Kharyaga field, with total reserves of 160.4 million metric tons, is one of three production-sharing agreements in Russia. The other two are Sakhalin I and Sakhalin II.
Russia's environmental watchdog launched a probe Wednesday into alleged environmental violations at the Sakhalin I hydrocarbon project off Russia's Pacific Coast, which is run by U.S. giant ExxonMobil, a Rosprirodnadzor deputy head said.
Months of pressure last year on another vast hydrocarbon project in the Far East, Sakhalin II, regarded by experts as the Kremlin's drive to regain control of the country's mineral resources, culminated in the purchase by state-controlled energy giant Gazprom of 50% plus one share in the project from Shell and other companies involved.
Another hydrocarbon operator in Russia, TNK-BP, received a warning from Russian authorities in early February that it could be stripped of its license for the giant Kovykta natural gas deposit in East Siberia over failure to meet its obligations to supply nearby areas with gas. The Russian-British joint venture was given three months to rectify the situation.
