RusEnergy

MOSCOW, February 1 (RIA Novosti) - Foreign partners have every chance of joining the vast Shtokman gas project off Russia's Arctic coast, but the prerogative to select them remains with energy giant Gazprom [RTS: GAZP], the Russian president said Thursday. Norsk Hydro, Statoil and other companies were short-listed to develop the Shtokman offshore gas field in the Barents Sea, but Russian state-run gas monopoly Gazprom announced last October that it would develop the gas deposit on its own. "Gazprom has indeed announced that it will be the sole user of the Shtokman field, but that does not mean it will stop cooperating with other companies to implement the project," Vladimir Putin told a Kremlin news conference. The giant Shtokman field holds an estimated 3.2 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and 31 million metric tons of gas condensate in the Barents Sea, where Gazprom plans to build a liquefied natural gas plant. Some $12-14 billion will be invested in the project's first phase, and production will begin in 2011. Putin said Gazprom reserves the right to involve foreign companies in some capacity or other during the project's implementation. Russia will need the experience and technologies of foreign partners due to the "severe and complex conditions" at the deposit, Putin said.