Royal Dutch's Work on Sakhalin Halted

The consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell has suspended pipe-laying work at a section of its giant LNG project on Russia's far eastern island of Sakhalin due to substandard construction work.

Ivan Chernikovsky said work had been halted amid company's concerns that subcontractors' work did not meet the necessary construction standards.

He said the halt would not push back the project's completion date.

Russia's Natural Resources Ministry is auditing the project, called Sakhalin-2, and in early August called for construction to be halted over mudslide concerns.