Fuel, energy commission tells lawyers asses Trebs-Titov situation
MOSCOW. June 21 (Interfax) - The Russian government's fuel and energy commission has instructed lawyers to assess the situation with the Trebs-Titov oil fields, Lukoil chief Vagit Alekperov told reporters.
"We expect a positive decision by the commission and hope that justice will be restored," he said.
The commission has already looked at the situation and "government lawyers have been instructed to assess the Natural Resources Ministry's proposal," he said.
Meanwhile, the Bashneft-Polyus company, a joint venture between Bashneft and Lukoil, continues to work at the field on the basis of an operating agreement, he said.
The Russian Federal Subsurface Resources Agency (Rosnedra) on May 18 canceled an order transferring the Trebs-Titov license to Bashneft-Polyus "due to the identification of violations upon allocation of the license" and returns the Trebs-Titov license from Bashneft-Polyus to Bashneft.
Bashneft-Polyus has filed a lawsuit in Moscow Arbitration Court against the Federal Subsoil Resource Use Agency, or Rosnedra, to invalidate the Rosnedra order (No. 589) of May 18, 2012.
A preliminary hearing has been set for June 28.
Bashneft gained the license to develop Trebs-Titov in a government decision following a tender that was invalidated. In early December 2011 the license was transferred to Bashneft-Polyus and at the edn of December Lukoil acquired 25.1% of LLC Bashneft-Polyus for 4.8 billion rubles.
The Bashneft and Lukoil presidents sent the government a letter about Trebs-Titov asking it "to consider the possibility of extending the project in its current form and if so to clarify the license agreement, maintaining its essence and removing ambiguities."
The Trebs and Titov fields are federally strategic deposits. Such deposits can only be developed by companies with over 50% Russian participation. The licenses can be sold or transferred only with permission from the Federal Antimonopoly Service and the Foreign Investments Commission.
Russian Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi told reporters on the sidelines of the economic forum in St Petersburg that the government's lawyers would produce an opinion on Bashneft's and Lukoil's proposal to adjust the wording of the license in the next few weeks.
"The companies propose adjusting the wording regarding the terms for oil refining," he said.
Profile agencies will be basing future decisions on the opinion, Donskoi said.