Moscow delays BP licence ruling

BP and Shell have struggled to keep assets in Siberia

Russian authorities have delayed a decision on whether to withdraw a licence for BP's joint venture in the Kovykta gas field in East Siberia.

Licensing agency, Rosnedra, is deciding whether TNK-BP's operations should be stopped but wants two weeks to decide due to the "complexity of the issue".

Russian authorities claim TNK-BP is not producing enough gas from the area.

The dispute is seen by some as the Kremlin's latest attempt to gain control of Russia's energy supplies.

Reports had suggested that Moscow would postpone the decision until after next week's G8 Summit and the Russian Economic Forum.

Court bid

The Kremlin says that under the terms of the licence, Kovykta should have been producing nine billion cubic metres of gas per year by 2006.

It is currently processing less than 2.5 billion cubic metres.

But TNK-BP says that it cannot produce any more because the local region does not require additional supplies and it has been denied an export licence.

The licence for the gas field is held by Rusia Petroleum, which is 63% owned by TNK-BP.

The other half of TNK-BP is owned by the Russian group Alfa Access Renova.

Earlier this week an arbitration court judge in Irkutsk threw out attempts by TNK-BP to stop authorities seizing the licence.

The judge said the case was outside the court's jurisdiction.

Last year Russian energy giant Gazprom secured a majority stake in a similarly large Russian oil and gas field formerly led by Royal Dutch Shell.

Shell and its partners granted Gazprom control of the Sakhalin 2 project after authorities refused to grant them the necessary environmental certificates.