By Stephen Voss
2007-6-11
ROYAL Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, would like to participate in developing Russia’s Shtokman field if invited to do so but a senior official at state-run OAO Gazprom said that’s unlikely to happen, Bloomberg News reported.
Rival companies including Statoil ASA, ConocoPhillips and Total SA have been given a second chance to help develop Shtokman. The field is Russia’s largest untapped gas deposit and lies under Arctic waters off the coast of Siberia.
“First we have to be invited to the party,” Shell Chief Executive Officer Jeroen van der Veer said in an interview at the weekend. “Shell are the leaders in liquefied natural gas. And we expect liquefied natural gas will play a major role for the Shtokman development.”
Gazprom plans to form a group of international companies by the end of July to develop Shtokman, Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev said in an interview in St Petersburg. It would have between one and three partners and LNG exports from Shtokman may start as soon as 2014, he said. Shell isn’t short-listed.
“It’s understandable they would like to be invited but until now we don’t have any reason to expand the list,” Medvedev said. Gazprom is “very satisfied with the level of proficiency” of those already short-listed, he added.
Gazprom, which had originally intended to allot stakes in Shtokman to two or three foreign firms, halted the competition in October, saying it wouldn’t share ownership. Gazprom in January said it would offer a minority stake in the operating unit that will develop the Arctic field and produce LNG.
The plan may still allow the partners to book some reserves under US Securities and Exchange Commission rules, Interfax said in April.
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2007/200706/20070611/article_319126.htm
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