Russian Green Watchdog Warns Gazprom over Nadym
Date: 12-Dec-06
Country: RUSSIA
In the last three months, RosPrirodNadzor (RPN) has threatened to delay or stop projects such as the Royal Dutch Shell-led Sakhalin-2 venture and the Exxon Mobil-operated Sakhalin-1 because of violations of environmental licence terms.
Some analysts have suggested it has been spurred chiefly by the Kremlin's desire to force a revision in the terms of Shell's agreement in the US$22 billion Sakhalin-2, which appeared to be bearing fruit on Monday.
Industry sources said Shell had offered to cede control of the project, Russia's biggest single foreign investment, to Gazprom.
RPN, however, has promised to investigate environmental compliance at many energy firms and to deal firmly with any wrongdoing by Russian as well as foreign companies.
The agency said in a statement that earlier this month its inspectors found around 26,000 tonnes of scrap metal, as well as building waste and fuel containers, strewn across 32.7 hectares (80.8 acres) at the Kharasavey gas condensate field, part of the Nadym field operated by Gazprom, the state gas export monopoly.
It said a clean-up of the field was supposed to have been completed in 2003, but was so far only 40 percent finished.
RPN said local Gazprom staff had also failed to supply its inspectors with project documents and state environmental permits.
It said Gazprom had six months to rectify the problems.
