Enviro-NGOs ask for delay in Shtokman decision
The Russian organizations want the environmental risks to be evaluated before the Shtokman partners adopt an investment decision.
In the letter sent to Gazprom’s Alexei Miller, Statoil’s Helge Lund and Total’s Pierre Nerguararian the environmental groups call on a postponement until a complex assessment of environmental impact of the Shtokman project is done.
Read also: No time for Shtokman clarity this year
The letter was triggered after a meeting between Russian environmental NGOs and Shtokman Development AG in mid-November. The environmental groups, including Greenpeace, Bellona-Murmansk and others, says the Shtokman project developers at this meeting did not possess sufficient fundamental environmental data and can therefore not make an informed investment decision.
The groups point to the fact that at the current time Russia does not possess a marine service for spill response or a system for satellite monitoring of petroleum spill in ice conditions. The ecologists argue that accidental situations can arise during drilling, both for coastal and sea-based operations, for gas lines, at terminals and at in-shore waters.
Read the letter here.
