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Russia may suspend offshore license grants

The blocks that have already been applied for, will be excluded

© ITAR-TASS/Sergey Savostyanov/archive

MOSCOW, August 16. /TASS/. Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is planning to suspend issuance of licenses for offshore oil and gas fields, according to a respective letter obtained by TASS.

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"Regarding allowing use of other federal mineral resource blocks located on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation, Russia’s Natural Resources Ministry taking into consideration the view of Rosnedra (Federal Agency for Subsoil Use) considers it reasonable to suspend licensing of new blocks of federal significance," the document says.

The blocks that have already been applied for, will be excluded.

As was reported earlier Russian state-owned companies paid a total of 34 bln rubles ($530 mln) for the right to use offshore fields in 2014-2015.

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