Billions are invested in the Zvezda yard outside Vladivostok to make it capable of meeting Russia’s growing demand for ice-protected ships and platforms.
The environmental organisation WWF has sent a letter to the Russian Federal Environmental Control Service where it accuses the Shtokman Development AG of serious violations of environmental legislation.
After two years of standstill, oil and gas companies are ready to start exploration in the Barents Sea again. Nine exploration drilling projects are planned in the period 2010-2011.
The maritime research vessel ”Akademik Mstislav Keldysh” has returned to Murmansk after a three month research expedition in the waters of the Shtokman field.
Russia’s biggest oil company Rosneft says that it expects to get a number of new offshore production licenses and that foreign companies might be invited in as partners.
By year 2030, Gazprom intends to produce an annual 200 billion cubic meters of gas and 10 million tons of oil on the shelf, the company’s revised Shelf Development Programme states.
The three partners in the Shtokman project agree on technological solutions and time limits, but are not yet ready to present a final investment decision.
Russia will before the end of the year present a comprehensive package of tax breaks and other benefits for the companies operating on the Arctic shelf.
