Doomsday of TNK-BP

Rosnedra begins to decide the fate of the Kovyktinskoye field

The Rosnedra Commission plans today to consider the issue of revoking the license for the Kovyktinskoye gas condensate field, owned by TNK-BP's subsidiary, RUSIA Petroleum. A source at Rosnedra, familiar with the agenda of the meeting, told Vremya Novostey about this. Another source close to the license revocation commission confirmed this information, but warned that the agenda has not yet been finalized and adjustments may be made to it. According to both sources, members of the commission are determined to revoke the license, since violations committed by the subsoil user “are irreparable in advance.” However, they clarify, “the commission is required by law to provide the company with at least three months to eliminate them.” TNK-BP does not comment on this information.

Reserves of the Kovykta field, located in the Irkutsk region, reach 1.9 trillion cubic meters of gas. TNK-BP acquired a license for this field ten years ago with the goal of exporting gas to China. Moreover, one of the terms of the agreement was to provide the Irkutsk region with gas since 2006. At that time, the region’s needs were forecast at 9 billion cubic meters, which was stated in the license. The management of TNK-BP failed to reach an agreement with Gazprom on the export of gas to China, as well as on the participation of the monopoly in the project. The domestic market of the Irkutsk region, according to TNK-BP estimates, is capable of processing only 2.5 billion cubic meters. So the gas received from Kovykta will be flared uselessly, therefore, the company explains, production at the field in violation of the license is still not carried out.

In mid-January, the head of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Yuri Trutnev, officially announced that his department was aware of the company’s violations. “The fact that the company does not comply with the license agreement in terms of the established volumes (of production - Ed. ) does not raise any doubts,” he told reporters. “It is clear that this is a more than significant violation.” Later, the deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor, Oleg Mitvol, said that he had sent a request to the management of RUSIA Petroleum about the progress of the implementation of the license agreement. A response from the company was expected at the end of January. After this, Rosprirodnadzor was supposed to organize an inspection of Kovykta, which, according to Mr. Mitvol, could be completed in March of this year. Yesterday, he confirmed to Vremya Novostey that his department has not yet started checking the field. True, he could not comment on the commission’s agenda, since he himself would not be present at the meeting.

TNK-BP reported yesterday that the verification of RUSIA Petroleum documents was still carried out and the company provided Rosnedra with all the necessary documents. Based on its results, a detailed report was drawn up, which not only indicated the violations, but also listed the reasons that caused them, including the lack of the required volume of consumption.

TNK-BP can apparently avoid having its license revoked by agreeing with Gazprom on participation in this project. In mid-January, Viktor Vekselberg, executive director for gas business development at TNK-BP, said that the company had already sent a corresponding proposal to the management of the monopoly. The details of this proposal were not disclosed, but on the same day the head of the holding, Robert Dudley, noted the key condition of the deal - TNK-BP retaining a “significant” share in the project. Moreover, the transaction itself must be “commercially” beneficial to the holding. In response, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Gazprom Alexander Medvedev said that “this issue is not being discussed now, there is no reason to talk about a purchase.” After the commission meeting, the monopoly may have a chance to get Kovykta on more favorable terms.

Anna GORSHKOVA