OREANDA-NEWS. June 04, 2010. TNK-BP announced that the General Director of OJSC RUSIA Petroleum, of which TNK-BP is the major shareholder, presented a petition to the Arbitration Court of Irkutsk region to initiate bankruptcy proceedings of RUSIA Petroleum. These actions followed the submittal by TNK-BP, on May 14 2010, of an early repayment notice for a part of the loans issued to RUSIA Petroleum to finance development of the Kovykta gas condensate field, reported the press-centre of TNK-BP.

The current financial situation precludes RUSIA Petroleum from timely repayment of its loans to TNK-BP Group. In accordance with current legislation the General Director was obligated to file a bankruptcy petition with the court.      

TNK-BP announced its original decision to withdraw from the Kovykta project back in 2007. As the major shareholder and creditor of RUSIA Petroleum, TNK-BP is determined to recover its investments and minimize its financial losses. For this purpose, the company is determined to resort to the procedures prescribed by the current legislation.

Notes to editors:
RUSIA Petroleum was established in April 1992 to develop major hydrocarbon fields in the Irkutsk region. RUSIA Petroleum is the operator of the Kovykta gas condensate field. Since the beginning of its operations RUSIA Petroleum has conducted additional exploration at Kovykta, which generated reserve growth from 346 billion to more than 2,000 billion cubic meters of gas. In 2000—2007, the company executed an exploration drilling program, built surface infrastructure, infield pipelines, prepared and approved project documentation. The pilot development of the field started in 2001. In 2009, production reached 41.7 million cubic meters of gas and 2,100 tons of condensate.  

At present, 62.9% of RUSIA Petroleum shares are owned by TNK-BP structures, 24.99% by OJSC OGK-3, and 10.78% by the Irkutsk regional administration.