Siberian oil probe piles pressure on TNK-BP

A vast oilfield operated by a BP affiliate in Siberia will be investigated by Russia’s state environmental agency, adding further pressure to TNK-BP, which was raided this week by the Russian state security service.

The inquiry follows a raid on BP and TNK-BP offices in Moscow this week by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the earlier arrest of a TNK-BP employee and his brother, both accused by the FSB of seeking to obtain classified information from Russian oil companies for the benefit of foreign rivals.
Discovered in 1965, Samotlor is one of the world’s largest oilfields and during its peak output in the 1980s produced a quarter of Russia’s oil. Its productivity then declined and TNK-BP has, since 2005, been able to increase output using modern drilling technology.

Moscow analysts have suggested that the pressure on TNK-BP may be connected with the desire among some Kremlin officials to replace BP’s Russian partners with a state entity, such as Gazprom or Rosneft.

The Times