MOSCOW -(Dow Jones)- The Russian Natural Resources Ministry said Thursday that it would launch a month-long audit of the Sakhalin-2 project at the start of July, claiming that delays and cost overruns to the project were threatening national interest.
A statement released by Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev said Sakhalin Energy Ltd., a consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell Group (RDSA), is taking longer to drill wells and start production than foreseen in the Production Sharing Agreement under which the project is being developed.
“This is harming the interests of the Russian Federation, inasmuch as it defers to a later date the sharing of profit oil between the state and investors, and causes the cost of the project to rise.”
Trutnev said that, even under the most optimistic forecasts, the state couldn’t hope to receive profit oil until 2014 at the earliest, due in part to Sakhalin Energy’s estimated costs doubling between 2003 and 2005.
Jeudi 20 juillet 2006 / 12h20
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