Gazprom Will Proceed Alone in Developing Shtokman
Russia’s state-owned gas monopoly Gazprom has opted to develop its Shtokman natural gas field without foreign assistance, rejecting offers by five oil and gas majors to participate. The five contenders, including Chevron and ConocoPhillips, “were unable to provide assets comparable to the volume and quality of reserves in the Shtokman deposit,” Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said yesterday in a statement reported by The New York Times. The paper reports that Miller also said that piping natural gas from Shtokman to Germany will now take precedence over shipping LNG cargos to the United States. Industry analysts speculate that Gazprom’s decision may postpone the project’s planned start-up date, which was set for 2010. Platts LNG Daily provides further analysis of the recent development. [Subscription required]