Chief executive Helge Lund had a meeting today, 28 April, with Alexey Miller, chairman of the Gazprom executive board, at the Hammerfest LNG plant under construction in northern Norway.
This facility will liquefy natural gas from Statoil’s Snøhvit field, the first discovery to be developed in the Norwegian sector of the Barents Sea, and ranks as Europe’s first LNG facility.
The group signed a memorandum of understanding with Gazprom last September on studying possible development solutions for the Shtokmanovskoye gas and condensate field in the Russian Barents Sea.
During their Melkøya meeting, Messrs Lund and Miller discussed the work done under this agreement between their two companies
That includes joint studies on prospective projects for Shtokmanovskoye, building an LNG plant and deliveries of LNG to the USA.
“We have seen what Statoil has accomplished in the Norwegian Barents Sea,” Mr Miller said.
“Its achievements in developing Snøhvit are important for us. Joint efforts to apply the acquired experience and advanced technologies of our companies will form the basis for long-term and mutually-beneficial cooperation.”
“We have unique experience of producing gas in the Barents Sea, and hope that our technology, expertise and positions in the gas value chain can be useful to Gazprom,” said Mr Lund.
“We have discussed matters today which are important both for our companies and for our countries.”
Messrs Miller and Lund also considered prospects for Gazprom participation in the Snøhvit LNG project and opportunities for using Statoil regasification capacity in North America.
At the end of April, Statoil will be the first international company to submit proposals for developing Shtokmanovskoye, along with a draft agreement which could bring a project closer.
The group has maintained a close dialogue with Gazprom over the past year, with a number of meetings.
A follow-up meeting between Messrs Miller and Lund is planned for the second half of May in Moscow.