Gazprom Appoints Hydro as Partner in Shtokman
June 04 2004 - 6:40AM
PR Newswire (US)
Gazprom Appoints Hydro as Partner in Shtokman OSLO, Norway, June 4
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alexey Miller, the top executive of the
Russian oil company Gazprom indicated in a meeting with Hydro's
President and CEO, Eivind Reiten, on Thursday that Hydro could be
one of the most important partners in the Shtokman gas field,
situated on the Russian side of the Barents Sea. It has been agreed
that a work group shall now draw up a proposal for the concrete
agreements on Hydro's possible participation in the development of
the Shtokman field. "This is very pleasing for Hydro and for
Norwegian offshore expertise as a whole. Hydro is now seeing the
results of its long-term engagement in oil and gas activities in
Russia," says Eivind Reiten, President and CEO in Hydro. The head
of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, underlined at the meeting that Hydro
could be one of the most important partners in the development of
the gas field, on the basis of Hydro's unique technological
position and its experience of offshore production and the
transportation of gas from offshore fields. "This is a recognition
of Hydro's expertise after 30 years on the Norwegian continental
shelf, and not least Hydro's technological project expertise from
the Ormen Lange field development, which we hope to transfer and
expand in the development of Shtokman together with Gazprom. There
is potential here for reducing the cost estimate for the
development by 30 percent," Reiten points out. "Gazprom seems to
feel that Hydro can contribute to an efficient development of
Shtokman, but it must be underlined that there are a number of
questions that need to be clarified, such as the progress plan for
the development, ownership stakes and other conditions." The
Shtokman gas field is one of the largest in the world, localized in
the deep water continental shelf on the Russian side of the Barents
Sea, around 500 kilometres from Murmansk. Hydro is a Fortune 500
energy and aluminium supplier operating in more than 40 countries.
We are a leading offshore producer of oil and gas, the world's
third-largest aluminium supplier and a leader in the development of
renewable energy sources. Our 36,000 employees create value by
strengthening the viability of the customers and communities we
serve. Certain statements in this press release are or may
constitute "forward- looking" statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that
are not in the nature of historical facts may be deemed to be
forward-looking statements and may contain identifying words such
as "believes", "anticipates", "plans", "expects" and similar
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the year-ended December 31, 2002 and subsequent filings on Form 6-K
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non-GAAP and GAAP measures. This information can be found in
Hydro's earnings press releases, quarterly reports and other
written communications, all of which have been posted to Hydro's
website (http://www.hydro.com/). Contact Cecilie Ditlev-Simonsen
Idar Eikrem Telephone (+47) 22 53 20 97 (+47) 22 53 32 73 Cellular
(+47) 41 55 92 50 (+47) 95 02 83 63 E-mail DATASOURCE: Norsk Hydro
CONTACT: Cecilie Ditlev-Simonsen, +47-22-53-20-97, or cellular:
+47-41-55-92-50, or , or Idar Eikrem, +47-22-53-32-73, or cellular:
+47-95-02-83-63, or , both of Norsk Hydro Web Site:
http://www.hydro.com/
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