Shtokman dilemma for StatoilHydro

StatoilHydro controls 24 percent of the Shtokman Development AG and will by next summer have decided whether to invest huge sums in the field, one of the biggest offshore gas deposits in the world, or not. StatoilHydro has huge interest in the giant field, located near Norwegian waters in the Barents Sea, and is expected to join forces with Gazprom and Total also after the announcement of the final investment decision next year. However, a green light from StatoilHydro should still not be taken for granted. According to newspaper Dagens Næringsliv, StatoilHydro demands more stability in Russia, before the company places its investments in the project. That demand might prove impossible to meet. That has been experienced by other Scandinavian company majors like Telenor and IKEA, which both feel that their investments in Russia are in jeopardy because of corruption, business instability and a rickety legal system. The first development phase alone might cost StatoilHydro more than three billion EUR, Offshore.no reports