WASHINGTON, 24 September 2006 — The United States said Friday it was “very concerned” by Russia’s decision to revoke environmental permits for a Shell-led consortium developing the vast Sakhalin-2 energy project.

The State Department said the move against the British-Dutch oil giant working on the world’s largest private oil and gas project, called into doubt Russia’s commitment to developing transparent global energy markets.

Moscow’s natural resources ministry said Monday it had revoked a 2003 State Environmental Expert Review (SEER), saying the move would halt work on construction of natural gas infrastructure at Sakhalin-2 in Far East Russia. “The United States is very concerned by recent Russian government action threatening the revocation of Shell’s environmental permit for the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project,” said State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey.

“Frankly, these recent actions cast doubt on Russia’s willingness to uphold its recent commitments, including the commitments that were made by all G-8 (Group of Eight) countries at the St. Petersburg summit. “We call on Russia to uphold the commitments on energy, including its commitment on upholding contracts,” said Casey, though noted he was not aware of any action against US companies.

The announcement provoked a wave of criticism and concern worldwide this week, including from Japanese officials and the European Commission. But a Sakhalin Energy spokesman said Wednesday that work was continuing as normal as the company had been given no official notice.

The project has attracted controversy because it falls under a production-sharing agreement (PSA) concluded on what officials say were highly unfavorable terms for Russia.

Sakhalin Energy has agreed to deliveries of liquefied natural gas starting from 2008 to energy companies in Japan, which is trying to diversify supplies away from the Middle East.

Under the PSA, Russia receives a share in the profits from Sakhalin-2 on a gradually increasing scale only after the companies involved have recouped initial investments and reached a certain level of profit.

Sakhalin Energy is 55 percent owned by British-Dutch giant Shell. Japanese firms Mitsui and Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. hold 25 percent and 20 percent in the project, respectively.

Meanwhile, a Russian Far Eastern offshore oil field originally claimed by ExxonMobil Corp. has been given to state-controlled oil giant Rosneft, an official said Friday. It was the latest blow to a major Western oil company invested in Russian projects, in which the Kremlin appears to be seeking a bigger role.

Days earlier, the Natural Resources Ministry said it would pull a key environmental permit for another project — a $20 billion (15.6 billion euros) liquefied natural gas project on Sakhalin Island controlled by Shell. The Lebedinsky field, off Sakhalin, was given to Rosneft, a ministry spokeswoman was quoted by Dow Johns Newswires as saying Friday.

ExxonMobil had asked to have the Lebedinsky bloc allotted as part of its adjacent Sakhalin-1 project, but those requests were rejected. The spokeswoman was quoted as saying that only Rosneft had applied for the field as of a Sept. 14 deadline. ExxonMobil’s work at Sakhalin-1 has been complicated before by new environmental checks at its recently completed De Kastri oil terminal. In a strange twist that hinted at possible internal governmental dissent over the Shell project, a Russian state regulator said it had refused to revoke the environmental permit at Shell’s Sakhalin-2 project. A short while later, however, the regulator, Rostekhnadzor, retracted that statement.

A Rostekhnadzor spokesman told The Associated Press that the information was incorrect and the news release had been annulled.