Russia's state gas major Gazprom said it has found a way to cut Shtokman development costs by almost a quarter, the first cut proposed in the $40bn project estimate. Gazprom said the $11bn reduction from the estimate proposed by project operator Shtokman Development AG could be achieved by introducing new production technology for the development of the giant Arctic gas field.
If the investment decision on the project is approved in March 2011, commercial production might begin in 2016 and gas liquefaction in 2017.
