As expected, the Sankt Petersburg Economic Forum 2012 is the venue for hard talk on business projects and the signing of major deals. As previously annonced by both Gazprom and President Vladimir Putin, the Forum is also the place and time for a break-through decision on the Shtokman project.
The Gazprom leadership, headed by Aleksei Miller, on Thursday held meetings with both stakeholders in the project, Total and Statoil. In addition, the company also met with a major delegation from Shell.
The press releases issued by Gazprom after the meetings give no clear answers about the issues discussed. However, the photos from the meetings still might fuel speculations about a certain turn of events. Thus, while Miller and his Gazprom team is depicted in a serious mode together with several representatives of Total, the photo from the Gazprom-Statoil meeting only includes Miller and Helge Lund.
At the same time, news are circulating about a letter sent by Statoil to Gazprom. In the letter, Statoil recommends Gazprom to include Shell in the Shtokman consortium and make it the biggest foreign partner, Gazeta.ru reports.
