Companies developing the Shtokman gas condensate field in the the Barents Sea have invested $500 million, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports on its Web site Tuesday, citing the project operator.
"To date, about $500 million has been spent, in proportion with the stakes of participants," Shtokman Development AG's Managing Director Yury Komarov is quoted as saying, adding that OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) accounted for half the amount.
Gazprom has a 51% stake in the project, while France's Total SA (TOT) and Norway's StatoilHydro ASA (STA) have 25% and 24%, respectively.
Komarov had said $1 billion would need to be invested at the initial stage.
Shtokman has estimated reserves of 3.8 trillion cubic meters and will feed Nord Stream, a gas pipeline set to link Russia and the European Union via the Baltic Sea, the report says.