Russian gov't questions TNK-BP spills, dividends

TNK-BP: In the hot seat over spills, dividends

AFP PHOTO / NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA

related stories

By News wires

 19 April 2012 21:51 GMT

Senior Russian officials threatened on Thursday to claim damages from Anglo-Russian oil producer TNK-BP for spills in Siberia and raised questions about the company's generous dividend policy, according to a report.

Natural Resources and Ecology Minister Yuri Trutnev, who flew over TNK-BP's Samotlor field, told a government meeting chaired by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that he ordered a regulator to file a lawsuit against TNK-BP, Reuters reported.

Trutnev gave pictures of the spill to Putin and said that TNK-BP reported 784 accidents in 2011 compared with around 20 by its rival, LUKOIL, and blamed the company's investment policy.

"The main reason is the poor state of the pipelines. They have enough resources to increase the investment threefold and fix the pipelines in five to…

Become an Upstream member!

Membership includes a subscription to our weekly newspaper providing in-depth news from the energy industry, plus full-access to this site and its archives. Still not convinced? Try our free trial.

Already a member?

Login

Upstream share price index