Russia's environmental authorities have recently been upping the pressure on oil producers, although to date these had been mainly foreign companies. In September the Ministry of Natural Resources withdrew a key permit for the vast Sakhalin-II hydrocarbon project in the Russia's Far East led by Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell.
Russia's environmental watchdog, the Federal Service for the Oversight of Natural Resources, said earlier Friday that it had uncovered serious infringements of environmental law by LUKoil at various oil extraction sites in the Komi Republic in the northwest Urals, and the neighboring Khanti Mansi Autonomous Area in west Siberia, and demanded the revocation of production license agreements.
At least 20 of LUKoil's licenses are now under threat - 12 in the Komi Republic, and eight in the Khanti Mansi Autonomous Area.
The Natural Resources Ministry said it has decided to set a three- to six-month deadline by which LUKoil must deal with violations, or face license revocation.
The company said in response to the ministry's statement, "Throughout its history, the company has always complied with regulations set by control bodies, and LUKoil has never lost a single license."
"Therefore, the company will make all possible efforts to deal with environmental violations by the set deadline," it said.
A special commission, led by Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of the environmental watchdog, traveled to the regions Thursday to investigate LUKoil's production sites.
"A commission, headed by Oleg Mitvol, established on October 13 that there are serious infringements of environmental protection legislation at deposits owned by LUKoil," the Natural Resources Ministry said in a statement.
The commission, accompanied by Greenpeace representatives, met with locals in the Usinsk area in the Komi Republic, who said the number of people who have fallen ill due to LUKoil's activities in the region has significantly increased, and that the Kolva river, flowing through the republic, has been polluted with oil products.
The ministry said it has launched administrative proceedings to determine the source of the pollution.
"Based on the results of inspections in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, the Federal Service for the Oversight of Natural Resources adopted a decision to demand the revocation of production licenses issued to two LUKoil subsidiaries, KhantyMansiiskNefteGasGeologia and NazymGeoDobycha," the ministry said.
The inspection team discovered that the company was not complying with oil production licensing agreements in the two regions, and requirements for developing oil production sites.
LUKoil is currently exploring and producing oil and natural gas at 406 licensed sites in Russia and 17 sites abroad.
Commenting on LUKoil's pledge to rectify the environmental situation at its production sites, Mitvol said it would be hard to accomplish this task during the winter, by the deadline. He also said his agency was planning to issue revocation notices on other LUKoil sites in the region.
