Total Chief Angered at Gazprom Comments

Chief executive of Total Christophe de Margerie yesterday lashed out at Gazprom, following comments made to the media by two of the company's chiefs.

Speaking to the Dow Jones news agency yesterday, Mr. de Margerie criticised comments made by deputy chairman of the Board of Gazprom, Alexander Medvedev. Mr. Medvedev had hinted that the partners in the Shtokman project could be changed in coming times, but he said there were "good chances" that Total and third shareholder Statoil could remain.

Total holds a 25 per cent stake in the Shtokman project, while Statoil holds a 24 per cent stake. Gazprom is the majority shareholder with a 51 per cent stake.

Mr. de Margerie said that his company had not been informed of any possible changes to the Shtokman line-up and said the conversation was not one to be conducted in the media spotlight.

"Quite honestly, this isn't all quite clear; this was never mentioned to me by Medvedev or Miller," he said.  "It would be good to talk to each other directly and not through the media."

While he had not discussed the matter with the Gazprom chiefs, Mr. de Margerie did say that he had a "good idea" which companies Gazprom had in mind to join the consortium. However, he did not name any specific companies.

Media speculation in recent months has put Shell forward as the most likely candidate to join the project. These rumours have not been confirmed.

Fellow stakeholder Statoil has also denied in recent times that it is seeking to leave the consortium, with Vice President of Statoil Eldar Saetre saying that the company was "working intensively with our partners to improve the project, take the costs down, put together the financial framework."