"There are important ecological violations in the activity of the Total company," the head of Russia's audit court Sergey Stepashin said, quoted by Interfax news agency.

He also said the French firm had not respected the deadlines it had agreed to and that the oil it was pumping from the Kharyaga field had not reached the expected amount.

"This has cut into the revenues of the budget of the Russian Federation on dfferent levels," Stepashin said, adding that the deal Total signed for the Kharyaga field was "disadvantageous" for Russia.

The move fits a pattern of Russian government pressure on foreign oil companies that signed production sharing agreements (PSAs) with the Russian state in the 1990s.

Total is one such company, as well as Exxon of the United States and Anglo-Dutch group Shell.

The PSAs were agreed at a time of low global oil prices and a period of weak Russian government. Moscow now sees the agreements as outdated and unfavourable to the Russian state.

Critics say that Moscow is using environmental regulations to force foreign companies to accept greater Russian participation in their projects.

The Kharyaga field currently produces around 20,000 barrels per day and has been the object of bitter dispute for years, with the Russian government accusing Total of excessive delays in completing the project.

Total controls 50 percent of the field, the Norwegian group Hydro 40 percent and local authorities 10 percent.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.