in 2010 to postpone it for 3 years. Based on this, the pipeline gas production might start in 2016 and LNG production in 2017. The shareholders agreement expired on 30 June 2012 without development started. Statoil wrote off its investment into the project and handed shares back to Gazprom. In August 2012, Gazprom put the project on hold with a final investment decision on the first phase postponed until at least 2014, citing high costs and low gas prices. However, the company confirmed being in talks with foreign partners to find a new business model for the project. There are speculations that Royal Dutch Shell may become a project partner. The Shtokman project was postponed indefinitely in May 2019, and Gazprom closed down the Shtokman Development AG. Development The field so far was not developed owing to extreme Arctic conditions and the depth of the sea varying from . In September 2006, Gazprom completed drilling of appraisal well No. 7 in the field. Russian scientists have warned that the Shtokman's development may face problems as global warming unleashes vast icebergs into the Arctic. The Shtokman Development Company plans to address this challenge by using floating removable platforms, which can be moved around in case of emergency situations. Originally it was planned to ship Shtokman's gas to the United States as liquid natural gas (LNG). Later it was indicated by Gazprom that the majority of produced natural gas would be sold to Europe via the planned Nord Stream 2 pipeline. For this purpose, the pipeline from the Shtokman field to the Murmansk Oblast and further via Kola peninsula to Volkhov in the Leningrad Oblast will be built. The LNG plant will be laid in by the village of Teriberka, about north-east of Murmansk. The front-end engineering and design (FEED) is divided between different companies. The onshore transportation and technological complex, including an LNG plant, will be prepared by Technip. DORIS Engineering will prepare the subsea production system and the offshore technological platform. JP Kenny, a subsidiary of Wood Group, will design together with Rubin Design Bureau and Giprospetsgaz, a subsidiary of Gazprom, the long subsea pipeline from the Shtokman field to south of Murmansk. WorleyParsons and its subsidiary INTECSEA will perform FEED of the production vessel, which will process produced gas before transportation onshore. Geology The main reservoir is of Upper Jurassic age, with a smaller amount of gas in the