Russian Federal Anti Monopoly Service said that it is investigating the country's second biggest oil producer, LUKoil, on suspicion of barring a smaller rival from using its pipeline in the Komi republic.

The Federal Anti Monopoly Service in a statement said that a small oil producer, Nobel Oil, complained that a LUKoil unitbanned it from shipping its associated gas, a byproduct of oil production through a LUKoil-owned pipeline.

The government watchdog said that "Having studied the situation, the Komi branch saw signs of a breach of the law in LUKoil-Komi's actions. It said that pipeline shipments of gas fall under the law that defends competition. The anti-monopoly service demanded that both sides submit documents about the matter by September 12th.”

A more liberal access to pipelines is one of the key goals that the competition watchdog is pursuing. It is also seeking a government decision that would make Gazprom more accountable in running its pipelines.