Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee reported today to Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation on the progress with preparations for the first phase of the Shtokman field development. The meeting was also attended by Helge Lund, President and Chief Executive Officer of Statoil. The parties discussed a wide range of issues associated with the Final Investment Decision to be taken on the project.

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Transcript of the meeting start

Vladimir Putin:Good afternoon, Mr. Lund!

We have recently met with you and talked about cooperation deepening in offshore oil production. It was then when we agreed to continue our contacts and joint efforts on gas production.

You have a very good, large project with Gazprom. Actually, there are several fields of work and sci-tech cooperation with Gazprom. But the production potential of the Shtokman project is immense, it is of global significance, and there is still no final decision taken in this regard. However, we need to rapidly move forward. It seems to me we have all chances to start moving. Meanwhile, certain steps can be taken before long, during the economic forum in Saint Petersburg. I suggest that we discuss all of these issues today.

Helge Lund:Mr. President, thank you for your time meeting with me.

It proves that the energy sector is of utter importance in Russia as it is around the world. The Shtokman project has been launched in very difficult conditions. It opens many opportunities for us, but at the same time, we will have to face a great deal of challenges. Gazprom is about to develop our concept. We are focused on liquefied natural gas production, Russian gas is to penetrate the global market.

At the moment, we are working to optimize our dialog with Gazprom and deepen our cooperation. We take much effort to meet in Saint Petersburg and achieve progress.

I would also like to note that the importance of this project is beyond the project itself. We have an extensive track record of similar projects in Norway, which are well known to the public. One of the goals of this project is to use it as a catalyst for developing the Russian offshore production sector.

For over 40 years, Norwegian companies have been developing state-of-the-art technologies in this sector. This should be one of our goals here as well. I hope together we will be able to tackle the remaining challenges and move forward.

Vladimir Putin:Let's talk about it in detail now.