03.18.07, 2:35 PM ET
LONDON (AFX) – Royal Dutch Shell has made another attempt to participate in developing the 40 bln usd Shtokman gas field in the Russian Barents Sea, one of the world’s largest energy projects, weekly magazine the Business reported without citing sources.
The magazine understands that Shell made contact with Gazprom earlier this year, when the Russian group began scouting once again for international partners to help develop the field.
Gazprom in September 2005 made a shortlist of five Western energy groups to partner with on the field — ConocoPhillips (nyse: COP – news – people ), Chevron (nyse: CVX – news – people ), Total, Statoil (nyse: STO – news – people ) and Norsk Hydro (nyse: NHY – news – people ), but not Shell — but later that year decided to operate alone. In January, though, it sent letters to the same five companies inviting them to restart negotiations.
The Business claimed Shell has made its own approach to Gazprom, adding that the company has refused to comment on what it called ‘market speculation’.
Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.
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