Move Would Open Door
To Gazprom and Tighten
Kremlin Grip on Energy
By GREGORY L. WHITE in Moscow and GUY CHAZAN in London
June 1, 2007; Page A9
Russian regulators could move as early as today to revoke a production permit from a $20 billion BP PLC natural-gas project in Siberia, in a test case of just how far the Kremlin will go in its drive for control over the energy sector.
As the Russian government has tightened its grip over strategic oil-and-gas assets in recent years — effectively nationalizing one of the country’s biggest oil producers and forcing foreign investors to cede control of projects to Russian state companies — opportunities for international oil giants have withered.