MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) - Partners in the Shtokman gas condensate field in the Barents Sea will invest from $15 billion to $20 billion in the project by 2014, a Russian senior government official said on Wednesday.

The Shtokman project to develop the Arctic gas field, with estimated reserves of 3.8 trillion cubic meters, is intended to supply the Nord Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Germany currently being built under the Baltic Sea. The Shtokman project cost is estimated at $30 billion.
Gazprom has a 51% stake in the project, while France’s Total and Norway’s StatoilHydro have 25% and 24%, respectively.
Viktor Zubkov, first deputy prime minister and co-chairman of the Russian-Norwegian inter-governmental commission for economic, industrial, scientific and technical cooperation, said Russia and Norway were interested in stronger relations between Gazprom and StatoilHydro, especially in the development of the Shtokman gas field.
The first pipeline gas supplies from the Shtokman deposit will begin in late 2013 and liquefied gas supplies in 2014. The project’s first phase is expected to produce a total of 23.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually.