Russia's water resources agency on Tuesday restored 12 construction licences for the vast Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project in far eastern Russia that were suspended in December, a spokesman for the Sakhalin Energy consortium said. "The licences have been restored" for Starstroi, a contractor that is building oil and gas pipelines for the project, said Ivan Chernyakhovsky, a spokesman for the Sakhalin Energy consortium.
Russian authorities suspended the water use licences in December and gave Starstroi, a Russian-Italian joint venture, two months to correct alleged environmental violations committed during construction.
In December, Russian energy giant Gazprom announced it would take a controlling stake in Sakhalin Energy, a consortium including Japanese firms that was previously led by British-Dutch oil major Shell.
Environmental violations uncovered by Russian officials in Sakhalin were widely seen by energy analysts as part of a drive by Russian authorities to seize control of the foreign-owned project.
