Gazprom, Statoil stress need to keep Shtokman time plan
The situation on the European energy marked makes it more important to keep the Shtokman project on schedule, said Gazprom’s Alexey Miller and Statoil’s Helge Lund on Tuesday.
Chairman of the Gazprom’s Management Committee Alexey Miller and Chief Executive Officer of Statoil Helge Lund met at the Gazprom headquarters to discuss the situation in the European energy market, Gazprom’s web site reads.
The two parties shared an opinion that sustained gas supplies by traditional exporters – Russia and Norway – were assuming paramount importance in the present context.
On its part, Gazprom makes every effort to provide Europe with reliable gas supplies: the offshore Nord Stream gas pipeline is under construction and the South Stream project is being actively implemented. Timely delivery of the Shtokman project becomes of prime importance as well.
A final investment decision on the project is expected to be made in April, after several delays the last years.
Read also: Gazprom, Statoil: Shtokman goes according to plan
The dramatic situation in Japan can also have an influence on energy production in the high north and first of all on building of a LNG plant for the gas from Shotkman. Japan needs new sources of energy as several of their nuclear electricity generating units are badly affected by the earthquakes and tsunami, and LNG from Shtokman might part of a solution.
The Shtokman field, located more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) off the coast of Russia in the Barents Sea, may contain 3.9 trillion cubic meters of gas resources.
The current plans see a start-up of pipe gas production at the field in 2016.
The venture aims to build a plant capable of producing 7.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas a year after output is started. About 90 percent of this supply was originally earmarked for the U.S.
