UK Decides to Revoke DEA Oil Licences Unless Ownership Changes

The British government has decided to revoke North Sea oil field licences owned by DEA, RWE's oil and gas unit bought last month by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's LetterOne, unless the licences change ownership, the energy ministry said.

"The Secretary of State Ed Davey ... proposes to revoke DEA UK's North Sea petroleum licences unless LetterOne arranges for a further change of control of the DEA UK gas fields in the North Sea," the ministry said in a statement.

LetterOne has up to six months to make a change in ownership, the ministry added.

Reporting by Karolin Schaps