Gazprom’s Headquarters today hosted a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Gazprom’s Management Committee Chairman and Helge Lund, Statoil’s President and CEO.

The meeting explored the implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Gazprom, Rosneft and Statoil on 8 September 2004.

At the same time, the parties looked into the study of joint promising projects, focusing on the Shtokmanovskoye gas condensate field development, construction of a gas liquefaction plant, LNG deliveries to the USA and Statoil’s involvement in said project.

Alexey Miller and Helge Lund also addressed Russia’s potential involvement in the Snohvit liquefied natural gas production project and possible use of Statoil-owned regasification capacities in North America.

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Statoil is a vertically integrated oil and gas firm. In 2003, the company’s net profit totaled NOK 16.6 billion (USD 2.33 billion).

As of 31 December 2003, Statoil’s natural gas and oil & condensate reserves were estimated at 392 bcm and 1.77 billion barrels, respectively. Statoil is carrying on business in 21 countries of the world. The company counts on vast experience of operations on the Norwegian continental shelf and is the world’s third-largest crude oil seller.

Statoil is one of Europe’s major natural gas suppliers. Over 2003, the company was producing 1.07 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

This year, Statoil is planning to build up its daily domestic production to 1.12 million barrels of oil equivalent, with further growth to be maintained through production activities abroad. Statoil’s 2003 foreign operations (largely in Angola, Azerbaijan, Venezuela and the Great Britain) yielded some 90 thousand barrels of oil equivalent a day.

The Snohvit (White-Snow) field is situated in the Norwegian Barents Sea. Recoverable reserves of the field are valued at 190 bcm of gas and over 20 million tons of condensate. The field will be developed solely with remote-controlled underwater vehicles and equipment.

The resources to be withdrawn from the field will be channeled to the Hammerfest LNG terminal (Norway) via a 143-km-long underwater pipeline. A train of the first European natural gas liquefaction plant will have an annual capacity of 5.7 bcm. Statoil started technically developing the Snohvit field in 2002. LNG production & supply to the USA and Europe is due 2007.

Statoil is serving as operator of the Cove Point regasification terminal (2.4 bcm per annum), which is one of the 4 existing regasification terminals in the USA. The terminal is based in Maryland, US West Coast, between Washington DC and New York City. Said area is being regarded upon as the most promising US gas market.

Statoil has recently entered into an agreement to upgrade the terminal with the view of boosting its throughput. On finalizing the facility modernization in 2008, Statoil will exercise control over the Cove Point 10 bcm/y LNG regasification, storage and transmission terminal.

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