MosNews (Russia): Shell Says Progress Reached in Gazprom Asset Swap Talks: “International oil major Royal Dutch/Shell said on Monday, May 23, that progress has been made in its talks with Russia’s natural gas monopoly Gazprom regarding asset swap. The companies want to exchange stakes in Siberian and Far East deposits, Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer said.” (ShellNews.net) 24 May 05

International oil major Royal Dutch/Shell said on Monday, May 23, that progress has been made in its talks with Russia’s natural gas monopoly Gazprom regarding asset swap. The companies want to exchange stakes in Siberian and Far East deposits, Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer said.

“We are in discussions with Gazprom about various projects,” van der Veer, quoted by Reuters, told reporters after speaking to the Institute for International Economics. “We feel that we have especially over the past two months made a lot of progress but they are not finalized.”

As MosNews reported in April, Van der Veer met with Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller and discussed a scheme under which Shell would invite Gazprom into its liquefied natural gas project off the coast of Russia’s Sakhalin Island. In return, Gazprom, the world’s largest gas producer, would give Shell a stake in its West Siberian Zapolyarnoye field, which produces 100 billion cubic meters a year, according to the information provided by the Russian monopoly.

Van der Veer did not elaborate on the talks, which have been ongoing for years. Shell is the world’s third-largest listed oil company by market capitalization.

http://www.mosnews.com/money/2005/05/24/gazpromshell.shtml

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