April 18, 2007
Bear bites large and small
Who would be in the Russian oil business? Imperial Energy, the London-listed oil and gas company, has been threatened with losing its licence in Russia, for reasons that seem rather confused, to put it mildly. Oleg Mitvol, the hammer of Shell over Sakhalin-2, is leading the charge.
Imperial’s reserves were valued at $2.8bn (requires FT.com subscription) in March, after it revealed a 41 per cent increase in those reserves (also subscription).
The theory after the problems faced by Shell and BP was that companies such as Imperial were too small to attract the Kremlin’s attention, and they could operate "below the radar". It looks as though it has just popped up on the screen.
Meanwhile, Shell has signed the deal to let Gazprom take control of Sakhalin-2, no doubt with its executives’ teeth tightly clenched. One shred of comfort: Ian Craig, the project’s chief executive, can stay in place until when the first gas arrives, expected by the end of next year, and will not be replaced immediately by a Gazprom appointment.
