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Criminal cases to be launched against Sakhalin energy project: official
By Shwan Mohammed
AFP
MOSCOW
Petroleumworld.com 09 29 06
Russia's environmental inspectorate plans criminal proceedings against the operator of the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project over "barbaric" environmental damage caused by pipeline construction, a senior inspector was quoted as saying Thursday.
But Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested at a conference that a dispute between Russian authorities and foreign companies involved in the project could be settled through dialogue.
The deputy head of the inspectorate, Oleg Mitvol, was quoted by Interfax as saying: "We want a criminal case to be opened for every destroyed tree, every river.
"If a criminal case is opened for every section then the company will respect the criminal code, will understand and will stop this barbaric work," Mitvol said during a visit to Sakhalin island in the Russian far east.
"Work on the pipeline cannot continue. The project must be stopped," he said.
Russian officials have stepped up pressure on Sakhalin Energy, the Shell-led consortium that is developing reserves off the island for shipment to Asian markets.
Construction of a pipeline between the reserves and a liquefied natural gas plant that is being built has proved particularly controversial, with critics saying it threatens the area's fragile ecology.
At a conference on the island on Wednesday, Lavrov defended controversial environmental checks being carried out by the state, saying they were "based exclusively on the demands of the law".
But the government's critics say its attacks on the project are a pretext for the state's efforts to claw back control of the project.
The Western-government-owned European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said Tuesday it was delaying a decision on financing expansion of the project, citing the current uncertainty.
However, Lavrov, making another intervention on Thursday, said that Russian authorities and foreign oil companies should be able to find common ground in the dispute.
"Officials from Sakhalin Energy have shown a sincere desire to overcome the differences," Larov told Russian news agencies, referring to the consortium developing the huge oil and gas field.
"I am convinced that a dialogue with the concerned government agencies will enable the differences to be resolved."
Russia's natural resources ministry last week moved to revoke environmental authorisation for the 20-billion-dollar (15.8-billion-euro) project carried out by British-Dutch oil giant Shell and Japanese firms Mitsui and Co and Mitsubishi Corp, sparking a chorus of international protest.
Russian Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev on Tuesday warned that the Sakhalin-2 project would be halted unless Shell corrected environmental damage done to the site.
Environmental groups have argued that the project damages the natural habitat of the endangered Western grey whale and harms fishing, a key industry for the people of Sakhalin.
"We want a response to a very simple question: is it possible to repair the damage inflicted without stopping the project?" said Trutnev, adding that his minstry "has no intention of harming a company that has invested in Russia".
Shell owns a 55-percent stake in Sakhalin-2, with Japanese firms Mitsui and Mitsubishi holding interests of 25 and 20 percent.
AFP 28 1230 GMT 09 06
Copyright ©2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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