RusEnergy

MOSCOW, January 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's energy and industry minister said Wednesday that the terms for the development of the Shtokman gas field off Russia's Arctic Coast should be set based on investor estimates. "This is a unique deposit not just in terms of reserves, but also in terms of extraction techniques. Therefore there're grounds to talk about [applying] the Product Sharing Agreement," Viktor Khristenko told a news conference after talks with Norwegian Petroleum and Energy Minister Odd Roger Enoksen. When investors submit their estimates, a decision will be made as to whether the deposit should be developed under the PSA or under a regular taxation regime, Khristenko said. Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom is currently selecting partners to cooperate on the Shtokman project. The shortlist includes Norway's Statoil and Hydro, France's Total and the U.S. companies Chevron and ConocoPhillips. The Shtokman deposit is located in the Barents Sea, 650km from the Russian port of Murmansk. It contains an estimated 3.2 trillion cu m of natural gas and 31 million metric tons of gas condensate.