Murmansk oil company might be taken to court
The state-owned and Murmansk-based oil company Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka might be taken to court after the Russian General Prosecutor revealed irregularities in the companys management of federal property.
The Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka is specialized on hydrocarbon exploration works in Arctic waters and is the company which in 1989 discovered the Shtokman field. According to RIA Novosti, the oil company is suspected of having violated federal laws in its management of state-owned vessels. Among the reported irregularities is unauthorized hiring of vessels to foreign and Russian companies. The inspection of the company was made on the request of Russian PM Viktor Zubkov. Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka was established in 1979 and has since been a key player in the exploration of hydrocarbons in the Russian part of the Barents Sea. Fifteen fields have been discovered, among them four giant ones. The company has found the Shtokman and Ludlovskoe fields In the Barents Sea, and the Leningradskoe and Rusanovskoe in the Kara Sea.
