RusEnergy

16.03.2005 18:31 MSK MosNews - Economically feasible and profitable reserves of oil in Russia will be exhausted by 2015-2017, the deputy head of the Russian Natural Resources Ministry, Anatoly Temkin, said on Wednesday, March 16. Temkin was presenting the new version of the law on subsoil use to reporters. The draft law is going to be discussed by the Russian Cabinet on Thursday. "The law will close the legislative gap that left us with no means of controlling reproduction [of oil] and rational usage of subsoil deposits," the deputy minister said. Among the new suggestions in the law are a ban on foreign companies from new tenders for the development of strategically important deposits, abandoning licensing practices and a transition to a contract basis when exploiting subsoil deposits. Temkin stressed, however, that "there is no reason to worry about foreign companies that are already developing Russian deposits — the law won't have a retroactive effect".