Russia toughens ecological demands
Russia plans to toughen its laws on oil and gas production. The Ministry of Natural Resources will shortly submit a draft law to the State Duma that will oblige Russian oil producers to insure against risks of oil spills.
The Ministry of Natural Resources says that the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico had prompted it to draft the document, Voice of Russia reports.
Although oil and gas exploration is being carried out on the Russian shelves where depths are far less than that in the Gulf of Mexico, the ecological disaster off the American coast should give the Russian oil producers food for thought how to avert such incidents.
If approved, the new law will oblige Russian oil producers to insure against risks of such oil spills. A company that implements an offshore project should present a plan for averting and cleaning up oil spills. This plan should be approved by the relevant federal agencies and should undergo ecological checks.
The company should also have money to finance the plan, its own funds reserved in a special fund or a bank guarantee. The oil companies should conclude an agreement with the government on what needs to be done to eliminate large-scale oil spills, which is impossible under the plan submitted. In this case, the government will take necessary measures and the company will finance the expenses.
