Russia warned on Wednesday that production licences of foreign and domestic oil companies can be torn up at will if the nation's fabulous natural wealth is not exploited on Moscow's terms.
Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev said Russia was prepared to withdraw the production licence for one of British oil giant BP's biggest projects in the country, the Kovytka gas field, within a month.
"The Resources Ministry will review the possibility of withdrawing the Kovytka licence within a month," Trutnev told Reuters in Irkutsk.
Although analysts believed it was highly unlikely the authorities would carry out the threat, they said it was a sign Moscow is prepared to lean on even the most favoured foreign investors if it feels it can extract better conditions.
BP last year acquired a 49 percent stake in Russia's fourth largest oil company, TNK, with the personal blessing of President Vladimir Putin. It established a joint venture, now called TNK-BNP.
Trutnev said the ministry was unhappy BP-TNK had failed to invest in infrastructure in the Kovytka field. Analysts say the real reason for the spat is that state gas concern Gazprom wants a bigger role for itself in the venture.
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