Russia blasts oil majors on production

[phantom power]

Clap harder, motherfuckers.

MOSCOW (AP) -- Three of Russia's oil projects, which all have foreign participation, failed to achieve oil production targets in 2007, Russia's Audit Chamber said Monday.

The state auditor said in a statement that the projects in question were ExxonMobil's Sakhalin-I, Gazprom's Sakhalin-II and Total's Kharyaga, all of which operate under production-sharing agreements.

Russia devised production-sharing agreements - which offer companies more favorable contract terms - in the 1990s to lure foreign investment into some of its more difficult and inaccessible oil fields.

Russia, the world's second-largest oil exporter, saw production fall this year as companies struggle under the burden of high oil taxes. Parliament approved a raft of tax breaks for the oil sector last week, starting from next year, after intense lobbying from oil companies.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/RUSSIA_OIL_PRODUCTION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-07-14-11-52-50

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. More evidence...

Of supply and price manipulation. "But maaaa! All the guys are doin' it!"