Russia is weighing the prospect of legal action against a massive project led by British-Dutch oil giant Shell for environmental breaches, a Russian supervisory official said on Tuesday. Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of Russia's environmental monitoring agency Rosprirodnadzor, said Russia could seek damages of about 15 billion dollars (11.7 billion euros).
"We are examining our position with US lawyers and I think that in two weeks we will have a document from New York that we will send to the Russian government," Mitvol told reporters in Moscow.
Shell holds a 55-percent stake in the 20-billion-dollar (15.6-billion-euro) Sakhalin Energy project, while Japanese firms Mitsui and Mitsubishi hold 25 percent and 20 percent respectively.
A production sharing agreement signed in 1994 between Russia and Sakhalin Energy is governed by New York law and Mitvol said he wanted the case to be heard by the International Arbitration Court in Stockholm.
Sakhalin Energy is working to extract oil and gas from vast hydrocarbon fields off the coast of Sakhalin, a pristine and energy-rich island in far eastern Russia, primarily for Asian markets.
Russian authorities have accused Sakhalin Energy of breaking environmental laws, particularly in the construction of two 800-kilometre (500-mile) long pipelines down the length of the island.
Source: Agence France-Presse
