Oil and gas companies Statoil ASA and Total SA gave a lukewarm response Tuesday to an offer from Russian gas monopoly OAO Gazprom for them to join the massive Shtokman gas field development in the Arctic as sub-contractors.
"We received a letter from Gazprom," said a spokeswoman for Total, offering involvement in the Shtokman project. "We would like to be involved, but we have to wait and see what are the conditions." The spokesman gave no details of any terms offered in the letter.
A spokeswoman for Statoil said they were only interested in participating in the Shtokman project as equity holding partners, not subcontractors. The spokeswoman wouldn't confirm if Statoil had received a letter from Gazprom, but said they have an ongoing dialogue with the company.
Gazprom announced in October that it would independently develop Shtokman's estimated 3.8 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves, not in partnership with western oil companies. Gazprom plans to ship Shtokman gas to Europe through a pipeline.
ConocoPhillips (COP) and Norsk Hydro ASA (NHY) were also reported to have been received offers from Gazprom in French newspaper Les Echos Monday. Both companies refused to comment on the report.
(Dow Jones Newswires, 30/01/2007)