The cost of
developing the Shtokman Arctic gas and condensate field will "of
course" rise along with increasing market prices, Andre Goffart, deputy
chief executive of Shtokman Development AG said Thursday.
Speaking on the sidelines of an oil and gas conference in Paris, Goffart
said cost was an issue, but he declined to disclose any amount.
Yet with gas prices recovering faster than anticipated, partially due to
Japan's Fukushima nuclear accident, Goffart said Shtokman would be profitable
if it were already producing.
He reiterated that a final investment decision is to be made before the end of
the year, adding that it was "in everybody's interest." If the
decision is made this year "we will be able to produce as soon as
2016," Goffart said.
During the initial phase, 16 wells would be drilled, from 2014, he said.
Shtokman Development AG is a venture between French oil major Total SA,
Norway's Statoil ASA (STO) and Russia's Gazprom , set to develop the Shtokman
gas and condensate subsea field, 600 kilometers north of Murmansk.