The joint venture, which is 50% owned by BP and 50% owned by Russian firm Alfa Access Renova, is claimed to have fallen short of the terms of the agreement that came as part of its license to work on the gas field.
According to AFX News, Russian environmental agency Rosprirodnadzor has claimed that TNK-BP’s Rusia Petroleum subsidiary produced just 33.8 million cubic meters of gas in 2006, well below the set target of nine million cubic meters.
The Russian environmental watchdog will now undertake an inspection of TNK-BP’s production capacity at the Kovykta field, and will make a decision regarding the license based on its findings.
Energia.gr reported that the environmental agency issued TNK-BP with an ultimatum in February 2007 to up its production capacity or face losing its license.
However, industry observers are speculating that both TNK-BP’s low capacity and the threat of license revocation are further signs of Russia’s attempts to block foreign access to its reserves in order to keep them in Russian hands.
According to AFX News, TNK-BP has claimed that Russian state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom has vetoed its plan to build a gas export pipeline to China, which would have justified the increased capacity.
