Monday, December 18, 2006. Issue 3563. Page 7.
By Miriam Elder
Staff Writer
Shell and Gazprom are both confident that a deal on Sakhalin-2 will be reached this week, a Shell spokesman said Sunday after the project’s shareholders held talks with Russian officials.
The heads of Shell, Mitsui and Mitsubishi flew into Moscow for talks Friday in the latest sign that the companies were close to a final deal with Gazprom on its entry into Sakhalin-2.
“Both sides hope to reach a conclusion by the end of this week,” said Alf D’Souza, vice president for external affairs at Shell Exploration and Development.