Gazprom hands out $2.3bn for Shtokman gig

Russian gas giant Gazprom has handed the Vyborg shipbuilding plant a $2.3 billion contract to build drilling platforms for the Shtokman gas field, according to reports.

Construction work will start in 2007 and continue three years, informed a spokesman for the government of the Leningrad region, where the private plant is based. Last month, Gazprom agreed to cede a 25% stake in a special purpose entity that will develop the first phase of Shtokman, which holds reserves of 3.7 trillion cubic metres of gas, to France's Total. The first phase of development at the Barents Sea field is estimated to carry a pricetag of between $15 billion and $18 billion. For more details