Rosnedra transfers six Salym licenses from Dutch SPD to Russian Salym Petroleum Development LLC

MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) - Federal subsurface resources agency Rosnedra has reissued six licenses of the Salym project owned by the joint venture of Gazprom Neft and Shell (SPB: RDS.A) from Dutch company Salym Petroleum Development N.V. to Russia's Salym Petroleum Development LLC, Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov told Interfax.

He recalled that the Ministry of Natural Resources had earlier come out with a proposal to adopt a law, according to which foreign companies cannot hold licenses for deposits in Russia, necessitating registration of a Russian subsidiary for this purpose. "The document was unanimously backed by the State Duma and adopted at the end of June. Just a few days ago, six licenses that had been previously in use by a company with foreign participation were transferred to Russian jurisdiction. The logic here is very simple - do you want to work with Russian subsoil resources? Register an exclusively Russian company!" Kozlov said.