PARIS, July 12 (RIA Novosti) - French oil major Total SA said Thursday it may be close to a deal with Russian energy giant Gazprom [RTS: GAZP] to participate in the first phase of the Shtokman natural gas project in the Barents Sea.
"We expect an agreement will be signed tomorrow," a Total spokesman said, without giving further details.
Gazprom announced earlier Thursday it had selected the French company as a partner in the arctic project, which will eventually supply gas to the Nord Stream pipeline to link Russia and Germany via the Baltic seabed.
CEO Alexei Miller said the agreement would be signed in Moscow on Friday. Under the deal, Total will gain a 25% stake in an operating company that will be set up to run the project.
Miller said the project's first stage aims to produce 23.7 billion cubic meters of gas annually by 2013, and start production and delivery of liquefied natural gas in 2014. The new operating company will organize project funding, design, and construction. Gazprom will initially hold a 75% stake, but could reduce its share in the future, offering other foreign partners an aggregate stake of 24%, while ensuring that Gazprom retains at least 51%.
Miller said the Russian gas monopoly would retain full ownership of the license-holding company, therefore controlling the project's entire output.
The Shtokman field holds an estimated 3.7 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and 31 million metric tons of gas condensate in the Barents Sea, where Gazprom plans to build a liquefied natural gas plant. Some $12-14 billion will be invested in the project's first phase, and production will begin in 2011.
The decision to involve a foreign company comes in spite of the Russian energy giant's announcement last October that it would develop the Shtokman deposit on its own. The company had previously short-listed U.S. majors Chevron and ConocoPhillips, Norway's Statoil and Norsk Hydro and Total to develop the field.
