PETER Hambro Mining, Imperial Energy and now Urals Energy ( UEN ) have all fallen foul of the Russian government watchdog Oleg Mitvol.
Shares in Urals fell sharply after claims it had committed environmental offences thought to involve discharge of oil in the Barents Sea and illegal logging in parts of Siberia. Urals strongly rejects the claims and is thought to have support among high placed figures in the Russian energy ministry.
Urals says it is committed to best practice in all of its production and development operations in Russia. Production averaged 10,000 barrels of oil a day in 2006 with a target of 50,000 for 2013. After peaking at 520p the shares have fallen to 397p. Analysts say the sector is likely to remain sensitive for sometime.