Trutnev Warns TNK-BP on Kovykta
Yury Trutnev, Russia's Natural Resources and Environment Minister, has said that TNK-BP will not be compensated for its investment into the Kovykta gas field should its license be revoked, contradicting earlier remarks by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin.
Trutnev said that TNK-BP "will not receive compensation for non fulfillment of the license."
The ministry said in February that it could revoke the permit, held by TNK-BP's Rusia Petroleum subsidiary, for not meeting output targets. The company agreed in 2007 to sell its stake in Rusia to Gazprom, and in the meantime it is operating the field at minimal levels.
But Sechin, the Cabinet's energy policy director, said earlier this month that such an expropriation was likely and "costs, incurred by the license holder in the field's development should be taken into account. It's necessary to look at the situation on the market and only after that come to a decision."