The meeting of the board of directors of Shtokman Development AG again did not lead to the adoption of a final investment decision on the project for the development of the Shtokman gas condensate field. This information was confirmed to Interfax by several sources familiar with the results of the event.

According to them, the decision has been postponed for another three months. During this time, Shtokman Development shareholders must conduct additional consultations with the Russian authorities. Owned by Gazprom (51%), Total (25%) and Statoil (24%).

Another delay in making an investment decision occurred due to an accident on a Total platform in the North Sea, where gas and gas condensate leaked on March 25. In Shtokman Development, the French concern, as a senior foreign partner, has special rights in resolving technical issues.

Shareholders will have to decide on the parameters of financing and construction of infrastructure for delivering gas to the shore and liquefying it as part of the first phase of the Shtokman development project. The owner of the license for the field with reserves of 3.9 trillion cubic meters of gas is Gazprom’s subsidiary, Gazprom Dobycha Shelf.

Gazprom, Total and Statoil signed a shareholder agreement in February 2008 to create a special purpose company. The Russian side attracted foreign partners due to the lack of sufficient expertise for projects of this scale that involve production in offshore fields.

In February 2010, the investment decision on Shtokman was postponed for a year due to a significant drop in prices on the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market. Later, the partners agreed that they would decide on their plans for pipeline gas in March 2011, and for LNG in December 2011. A few months later, the position was again adjusted in favor of an integrated solution. According to unofficial information, the examination showed that without LNG, the sale of Shtokman is unprofitable.

Taking into account the analysis of the LNG market conditions for the next 10 years, Gazprom believes that it is undesirable to delay making a decision longer than until the end of the first half of this year. This is due to the planned commissioning of a large number of competing projects and the associated significant limitation in the ability to conclude long-term contracts on terms that ensure acceptable project economics.

The final investment decision on Shtokman has been postponed for another 3 months