Alexey Miller Says Shtokman FID Not Delayed

Gazprom chief Alexey Miller has said that a financial investment decision (FID) on the Shtokman project in the Barents Sea will not be dealyed and will proceed as planned.

Mr. Miller was speaking in response to rumours which said that the FID on the project would be delayed past the April 1 deadline put forward by the consortium involved in the Shtokman field, Gazprom, Total and Statoil.

Mr. Miller made the reassurances to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's first deputy, Viktor Zubkov, who said that the decision must go ahead as planned.

"The investment decision must be taken by the end of the first quarter, and that means April 1," the news agency Reuters Mr. Zubkov as saying.

Tensions about tax breaks from the Russian government to the Shtokman consortium have previously delayed, with CEO of Statoil Helge Lund announcing in January that fiscal concerns had moved the FID from March 2012 to 1 April 2012.

Earlier this week, rumours emerged that the consortium would again be delaying the investment decision due to these same concerns. However, Alexey Miller today said that the decision would be taken by the April 1st deadline.

Gazprom is the majority shareholder in the Shtokman Project with a 51 per cent stake. Total and Statoil hold the other two stakes at 25 and 24 per cent respectively.