Shtokman production to triple after 7 years
Russia’s energy giant Gazprom intends to triple output from the Shtokman field in the Barents Sea after only seven years of production. By year 2020, Shtokman production will reach an annual 71 billion cubic meters, head of the newly formed Shtokman Development AG says.
Mr. Yuri Komarov, who spoke in an interview with Reuters, confirmed that the field will be launched in phases every four years. The second phase will start in 2016 and a third by 2020. Each stage would add 23.7 bcm per year of gas output, the Moscow Times reports. Mr. Komarov, head of Shtokman Development AG, said the field — one of the world’s biggest offshore gas projects — could eventually quadruple annual output from an initial 23.7 billion cubic meters if enough gas is discovered. Gazprom and its partners plan to export the Shtokman gas partly by pipeline and partly as LNG. The project will be developed in three phases. A fourth phase might be added if enough gas is found. Komarov said the third stage of the project was expected to produce only LNG. Mr. Komarov reiterated that year 2009 is a key point in the project. -By that time we plan to have held all the tenders and to make the final investment decision, he underlined.
