Gazprom, Statoil: Shtokman goes according to plan
Shtokman partners Statoil and Gazprom are pleased with preparations for the first development phase of the huge gas field in the Barents Sea.
The final investment decision is planned to be taken in March.
On Monday the Gazprom headquarters in Moscow hosted a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company’s and Helge Lund, President and Chief Executive Officer of Statoil, Gazprom’s web site reads.
- Alexey Miller and Helge Lund appraised progress with preparations for Phase 1 of the Shtokman field development and considered further steps on the way to the project execution, Gazprom says.
Two weeks ago Petr Sadovnik, Deputy Head of Rosnedra, the Federal Agency on Subsoil Usage, said that the Shtokman partners were discussing to postpone launch to 2018, as BarentsObserver reported. The reason he said was the uncertain market for natural gas. Shtokman Development has denied the assertion.
The current plans see a start-up of pipe gas production at the field in 2016.
The Shtokman field, located more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) off the coast of Russia in the Barents Sea, may contain 3.9 trillion cubic meters of gas resources.
The venture aims to build a plant capable of producing 7.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas a year after output is started. About 90 percent of this supply was originally earmarked for the U.S.
