U.S. ‘Very Concerned’ by Russian Steps on Shell

(Reuters) – The United States on Friday added its voice to the chorus of Western nations troubled by Russia’s dealings with foreign oil companies, saying it was “very concerned” by Moscow’s treatment of Royal Dutch Shell.

“The United States is very concerned by recent Russian government action threatening the revocation of Shell’s environmental permit for the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project,” State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.

Russia withdrew ecological permits for Shell’s Sakhalin-2 venture this week because the firm doubled the estimate of costs for the project to $20 billion, infuriating the Kremlin and Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, which wants to join Sakhalin-2.
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