Shtokman start-up might be delayed
Gazprom has applied to have the start-up date for production at the Shtokman field in the Barents Sea moved one-two years, to 2017-2018.
According to Head of the Federal Agency for Natural Resources Anatoly Ledovsky, the application will be approved, Gazeta.ru writes. – We are not yearning to take licenses away from license holders that are really working, he said.
In April project partners Gazprom, Total and Statoil all agreed that pipeline gas will start to flow from field installations in 2016 and that LNG production will start up in 2017, as reported by BarentsObserver. A final investment decision is waited by the end of the year.
Several experts have over the last years cast doubts over the project, especially as international gas markets have experienced quick and major changes and Gazprom suffered several setbacks on the European market.
Earlier this month it was announced that Gazprom is preparing 25-year contracts on supply of 7.5 million tons of LNG annually to three Indian energy companies. The annual volume covered by the Indian deals is equivalent to the projected annual LNG output of the Shtokman field.
The Shtokman field is located about 600 km north of Murmansk and includes a number of unprecedented technological challenges. The field contains as much as 3,9 trillion cubic meters of gas. It will be developed by the Shtokman Development AG, a joint venture of Gazprom (51%), Total (25%) and Statoil (24%).
