Today the Gazprom Headquarters has hosted a meeting dedicated to the implementation of the Shtokman gas condensate field development project. The meeting was chaired by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee.

Attending the meeting were heads and specialists of Gazprom’s structural departments and subsidiaries as well as Gazprom Group’s R&D and engineering institutes.

The meeting specified that the Shtokman field development was of strategic importance for Gazprom. The field had been identified as the major resource base for Russian gas export to Europe via the Nord Stream Gas Pipeline as well as for liquefied natural gas production.

The participants discussed the project preparation progress and issues in relation to project documentation and technical initiatives.

Sevmorneftegaz will be the single customer for the engineering and construction of Shtokman’s offshore facilities including a production complex, pipeline system and LNG production complex.

The conceptual scheme for project management and foreign partner involvement during Phase 1 will be determined in spring 2007.

Gazprom’s core business units were tasked with updating the plan of measures and project implementation schedule ensuring the synchronization of gas production, pipeline supply, and LNG production start-up with Gazprom’s long-term gas balance as well as with preparing proposals on an eligible engineering and construction customer for the Vidyayevo - Volkhov gas main facilities.

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Over a continuous period of time Gazprom has studied the possibility of providing foreign companies with a 49 per cent stake in the Shtokman project.

In September 2005, Gazprom identified the short-list of the companies – potential partners in the first stage of the Shtokman gas condensate field development project, which includes constructing a natural gas liquefaction plant. The shortlist comprised Statoil (Norway), Total (France), Chevron (USA), Hydro (Norway) and ConocoPhillips (USA). International companies however failed to offer assets corresponding by size and quality with Shtokman’s reserves.

In October 2006, the Gazprom Management Committee decided that pipeline gas deliveries from the Shtokman field to the European market would take priority over LNG shipments. Shtokman was identified as the resource base for Russian gas export to Europe via the Nord Stream Gas Pipeline. Gazprom will develop the field on its own, without foreign partners.

The Shtokman gas and condensate field is located in the central part of the Russian sector of the Barents Sea offshore.

Approved by the RF Nature Ministry’s State Commission for Mineral Resources in January 2006, Shtokman’s C1+C2 reserves make up 3.7 tcm of gas and over 31 mln t of gas condensate.

Sevmorneftegaz (a wholly owned subsidiary of Gazprom) holds the license to search for, explore and produce gas and gas condensate in the Shtokman field.