RusEnergy

01 June 2007 - Upstream OnLine - Russia's licensing agency today ruled to revoke a licence for a Caspian Sea field from Sweden's Lundin Petroleum, while Imperial Energy escaped relatively unhurt. The Natural Resources Ministry said the agency's committee ordered the withdrawal of licensing rights from Lundin Petroleum's PetroResource unit and took milder decisions over Imperial Energy's three units - Alliance, Nord and Sibinterneft. "The commission has decided to give Alliance three months to put the violations right. Information on Nord Imperial and Sibinterneft was reviewed, but it was decided to take no immediate action," a ministry spokesman said. Lundin said in a statement that it had not received written confirmation of any decision from the agency. "Lundin Petroleum strongly refutes any suggestion that the Lagansky licence be revoked and will take all necessary action to protect its interests in this respect," the company said. Lundin's stock fell by more than 6% after the announcement, while Imperial Energy was up as much as 7.5%, Reuters reported.