Oil field
An oil pump jack pumps oil in a field near Calgary, Alberta, July 21, 2014. Pump jacks are used to pump crude oil out of the ground after an oil well has been drilled. REUTERS/Todd Korol (CANADA - Tags: BUSINESS ENERGY ENVIRONMENT)

Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman is being pressured by the UK government to sell his interests in the North Sea gasfields on the premise the sanctions slapped against Russia could hurt and derail the project. The UK government gave Fridman three months to voluntarily comply, with an extension of six months, or otherwise face a court order.

On Monday, the UK Department of Energy & Climate Change said in a statement it will revoke the licences it had given to Fridman’s LetterOne Group concerning the project, unless there was a "change of control." The LetterOne Group bought the 12 fields for AU$7 billion (€5.1 billion; US$5.4 billion) from cash-strapped German utility RWE’s oil and gas unit DEA in March. It was the first time the department used its ministerial powers, RT News reports.

The UK is worried the field development in the North Sea, which supplies half of its energy needs, could get jeopardised when the Russian tycoon and his company gets included in a sanctions list. The fields Fridman’s LetterOne Group has bought produces 3 to 5 percent of Britain's total gas output.

“This decision was taken after a thorough review of all relevant information as well as obtaining cross-government views,” the department said on its website.

Reuters reports Britain’s push to dispose immediately any Russian stake on the North Sea Rhum gas field follows an experience in 2010 where it was forced to shut down the projects due to the sanctions slapped against its Iranian co-owner. The UK government is confident Fridman’s LetterOne Group would be able to find a suitable buyer and dispose its stake into the project within the set deadline. Otherwise, "the government will find a buyer," an unidentified source said. "The entire thing has been about protecting assets of national significance," the source added.

But the oil and gas sector isn’t currently an interesting industry to delve into right now, what with the depressed global prices. BBC News reports there might not be a queue, not even a short one, of potential buyers for the assets.

Forbes ranked Fridman as the world's 68th richest person and one of the energy sector's most influential dealmakers. His oil and gas interests stretch from Algeria to Poland, Libya to Norway.

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