By Lucian Kim
April 16 (Bloomberg) — Russia’s Natural Resources Ministry approved a plan from Royal Dutch Shell Plc and OAO Gazprom to remedy environmental violations at their Sakhalin-2 venture.
“Work to remedy the majority of violations must be undertaken now, since we signed off on this document in a short period of time,” Natural Resources Minister Yuriy Trutnev said in an e-mailed statement today.
Project operator Sakhalin Energy presented the ministry with a plan on March 20. Trutnev said it was “satisfactory” and in compliance with Russian law.
Inspectors from the Natural Resources Ministry uncovered a raft of environmental violations at Sakhalin-2 last year, just as Gazprom was negotiating with Shell and its Japanese partners to take a stake in the project. Shell ceded control of the development to Gazprom in December for $7.45 billion.
Once a final agreement is reached, Shell’s holding will fall to 27.5 percent, with Mitsui & Co. retaining 12.5 percent and Mitsubishi Corp. 10 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lucian Kim in Moscow at [email protected]
Last Updated: April 16, 2007 07:59 EDT