Shtokman is the world’s largest offshore gas field with the estimated 3.7 trillion cu. meters of gas and over 31 million metric tons of gas condensate.
Photo: Mikhail Pochuev
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Stakes in Shtokman Still Hard to Come By for Foreigners
Gazprom is to resume talks with overseas companies in February on their shares in developing the Shtokman gas condensate field. The production, however, will start no earlier than in 2012.
The Russian gas giant will start talks on foreign participation in the Shtokman project in February, Gazprom’s Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev said at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday. Gazprom earlier shortlisted U.S. ConocoPhillips and Chevron, Norway’s Hydro and Statoil and France’s Total companies to develop the gas field. However, the Russians said last fall they would develop the Shtokman field on their own as they had not found any offer good enough.
Shtokman in the Barents Sea is the world’s largest offshore gas field with the estimated reserve of 3.7 trillion cu. meters of gas and over 31 million metric tons of gas condensate. The first phase of the development costs from $12 to $18 billion.
A Kommersant source in Gazprom says there are several schemes of attracting overseas partners. If contractor’s agreements are signed, only international service companies will be asked to join the project. In this case giants like Chevron and Total, which attract contractors themselves, are not likely to join the Shtokman project. Alternatively, parties in the talks may agree on a scheme which will see foreign partners sharing profits from gas sales. In this case, the Shtokman project’s assets will have to be re-valued, which will take several months, dragging on the gas field’s development. Gazprom experts schedule the start of production at Shtokman for mid-2012.
Gazprom’s board will decide on the scheme of attracting overseas companies in March or April, the company’s spokesperson Sergey Kupriyanov told Kommersant.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 29, 2007
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