Russia is preparing to sell his recently purchased North Sea gas fields.

The UK is to force Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman to sell a dozen North Sea gas fields owned by his $10bn energy fund L1 Energy, giving him just three months to comply or lose operating rights.

Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman's battle to salvage his North Sea gas fields purchase will take weeks if not months to resolve as the British cabinet has left it for the next government to take the decision, sources said.

Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman is preparing to sell a dozen North Sea gasfields at the heart of a fierce row over ownership, in a move that would avert a high-profile legal battle with the UK government.

Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman’s investment fund said Wednesday it sent a “detailed response” to U.K. government objections to its deal to take over offshore natural-gas fields amid a period of icy relations between Moscow and the West.

Ex-BP boss aims to build major energy industry player from scratch Lord Browne heads new oligarch-backed $10bn fund L1 which is buying up energy industry assets while price of oil is low

Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman began building an international energy company on Monday, closing a €5.1 billion ($5.7 billion) purchase of German utility RWE AG ’s oil-and-gas business over British opposition that could force the sale of the unit’s U.K. assets.

Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman said on Monday he would buy a number of gas licenses in the North Sea despite British opposition, threatening legal action if London should force him to sell them on to a third party.

The UK has blocked the sale of North Sea gasfields from Germany’s RWE to a multibillion-dollar investment fund backed by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman.