MOSCOW (AFP) - Yukos's main subsidiary has been ordered to correct licensing violations at five of its 26 fields or risk having some of the licenses withdrawn, the natural resources ministry revealed.
Yuganskneftegas, which accounts for more than 60 percent of production at Russia's top oil company, has six months to correct the infractions, the statement said Thursday.
If it fails to do so, it could lose the licenses to three of the fields, it said, potentially affecting the unit's value ahead of its auction by the state, which is expected later this year.
"Yuganskneftegas will receive notice of a possible early termination of the right to use resources of three fields ... and an order to correct licensing violations discovered at two other fields," the statement said.
The ministry accuses Yugansk of not following production quotas.
Two weeks ago, the ministry gave Yugansk three months to correct licensing violations at 21 of its other fields, while delaying the decision on the five fields ruled on Tuesday.
The justice department has valued Yuganskneftegas at 10.4 billion dollars, but officials later said they may auction off a 77-percent stake the company at the starting price of 3.7 billion dollars.
That figure prompted the US State Department to express concern over the auction, saying it was troubled by the auction's fairness and the state of property rights in Russia.
Russia's justice ministry responded Thursday with a brief statement saying the auction would be free and fair but refused to go into other specifics.
"We will make the auction of Yuganskneftegaz as transparent and public as possible," Russian state property fund spokesman Vladimir Zelentsov told RIA Novosti.
"Whatever form of auction we agree on, our fund will guarantee that the process is an open one."
Reports that a controlling stake could be sold for under four billion dollars led to market speculation that Moscow insiders were trying to pry away the prized stake from Yukos and hand it to a state-linked company on the cheap.
That speculation gained resonance this week when a top government official confirmed the state-controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom, or one of its affiliates, is likely to take part in the auction.
The State Department said it was closely following the case, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed has no political implications.
"We have been concerned about the possible sell-off of the gas company that's associated with Yukos," spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters. "First of all, one has to assume there's some element of coercion or a forced sale involved.
"And, second of all, if sales are not made in the open market at fair market value, one has to assume there's an element of favoritism as well and that affects people's view of the business climate," he said.