Statoil loyal to Shtokman gas project

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 6 (UPI) -- There are no plans for Statoil to leave the Shtokman natural gas project in Russian waters of the Barents Sea, an official at the Norwegian energy company said.

Russian natural gas company Gazprom is considering new partners for its Shtokman project in the Barents Sea.

Gazprom has a majority stake in the project alongside Total, a French energy company, and Statoil. The field has an estimated 134 trillion cubic feet of gas. Gazprom said deliveries were slated for markets in the Atlantic basin, including the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline to Germany.

Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller had said potential new partners could mean a reduction in the stakes for Statoil and Total, reports Bloomberg News.

Statoil said there are no plans to abandon its interest in the project.

"We have no plans to leave Shtokman," Peter Mellbye, an executive vice president for international production at Statoil, told Bloomberg on the sidelines of an energy conference in Azerbaijan.

Partners to Shtokman have postponed investment decisions because of market reconsideration sparked by the shale natural gas boom in the United States.