By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 11 -- Non-Russian companies will be precluded from bidding on major resource-development projects in Russia this year.
Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev said companies bidding on projects involving strategic Russian mineral deposits, including oil and natural gas, must have at least 51% Russian ownership.
License offers affected by the ruling include Sakhalin III development and projects in the Barents Sea and Russian Arctic.
Trutnev made the announcement Feb. 10. The next day, he said Russian companies with international operations would be pressured to participate in licensing of Russian development rights.
