The
Shtokman joint venture agreement between French oil company Total SA and
Russian peer OAO Gazprom terminated on July 1 though Total
is still interested in playing an active role in the gas project, the French
company's chief financial officer Patrick de la Chevardiere said
Friday in a conference call held to discuss the company's second quarter
profits.
Last month, officials from Gazprom surprised Total saying they were
considering changing its partners in the development of what is one of the
world's largest natural gas fields. Gazprom officials had said the other
partner, Norway's
Statoil ASA, was also to leave the joint venture.
Total used to hold 25% in the Shtokman joint-venture.
Gazprom has been trying to develop the
Shtokman field for more than 20 years, and sealed a partnership with Total and
Statoil with that purpose. The consortium has already spent millions of dollars
on studies and plans for the extraction and liquefaction of natural gas there
under the extreme weather conditions.
The complexity of the project due to technological challenges in such extremely
cold conditions and precipitously low gas prices as well as the emergence of
the U.S.
as a gas exporter has called the financial viability of the plans into
question.
Mr. de la Chevardiere
said Gazprom was now free to decide who will be
its partners in the Shtokman project.
He added that his company is currently negotiating a settlement with the U.S.
Department of Justice following an investigation into gas contracts with Iran. He also
said Total's activities in Yemen
are back at full production and the operation in the Elgin
gas field in the North Sea, which was
disrupted earlier this year due to a leak, will gradually reach normal levels
by December.
Shares of Total were up 3.1% to 37.22 euros ($45.78) at 1347 GMT.