Gobustan Operating Company (GOC) lost the case in the court on the suit for damaging the environment filed by the inspectorate on the environment and natural resources state control under the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan (MENRA), the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Husseyn Bagirov told Trend.
Gobustan Operating Company is engaged in the development of the В"South-Western GobustanВ" field. The company has perspectives to start commercial sales of the SOCAR gas since the current October.
According to the head of the Ministry, despite the loss at the court, GOC carries out cleaning of the polluted area. "Although the Company resists the violations, discovered by the Ministry, it carries out cleaning of the area from the oil”, he pointed out.
The court hearing between the Ministry of Ecology and GOC lasts for nearly 2 years. The Ministry filed a suit against the Company on compensating the damages, inflicted on the earth upper layers during the oil and gas operations. The amount of penalty is 719,7 million manats (some $153,000).