ST. PETERSBURG, June 13 (RIA Novosti) - Gazrpom (RTS: GAZP) will select partner companies to develop the giant Shtokman gas deposit off Russia's Arctic coast before the summer holidays but after its shareholders' meeting, a spokesman said Tuesday.
The shareholders meeting is slated to be held June 30.
Alexander Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian energy giant, said consultations had been finished with bidders for the project.
"There is no need to continue discussions," he said, adding that all proposals submitted were interesting and picking winners would be hard.
A shortlist of companies competing to get in on the project unveiled last September includes Norway's Statoil and Norsk Hydro, France's Total, and U.S. giants Chevron and ConocoPhillips.
Gazprom will select two or three partners from the shortlist to form a consortium for the project.
The deposit holds an estimated 3.2 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and 31 million metric tons of gas condensate. Some $12-14 billion will be invested in the project's first phase, while production will start in 2011.
