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Murmansk Oblast is Russia's northwesternmost federal subject, located along the border to Norway and Finland. It is a key Russian Region within fisheries, mining and metallurgy and the Armed Forces.
The region is located along coast of the Barents Sea and is expected to become a new oil and gas centre as offshore hydrocarbon resources are developed in the Russian part of the Barents Sea.
The region has a population of about 850,000, of which about 85 percent are ethnically Russian. Out-migration from the region has been considerable over the last 20 years.
The economy of Murmansk Oblast is heavily export-oriented. The region is closely engaged in international cooperation, first of all as key stakeholder in the Barents Euro-Arctic Cooperation.
Murmansk declared Arctic gas capital
MURMANSK: Gazprom will make Murmansk the base for its expansion into the Arctic, company CEO Aleksei Miller highlighted at the Murmansk Economic Forum today. -Murmansk is very important, he underlined
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| Aleksei Miller (Photo: BarentsObserver) |
The forum, which opened in downtown Murmansk today has “the conquering of the Arctic” as its slogan and puts prime focus on the development of the huge Shtokman gas field, located about 600 km off the Barents Sea coast.
-Shtokman is strategically important for all of Russia, Mr. Miller said in his presentation at the forum.
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| Miller, Dmitrienko (Photo: BarentsObserver) |
Agreement
The Shtokman field was also the key component in the new cooperation agreement between Gazprom and Murmansk Oblast signed today. That agreement includes cooperation guidelines for the Shtokman development process, including for the laying of pipelines, construction of the LNG terminal and other facilities. Aleksey Miller after the signing ceremony stressed that Gazprom will build roads and develop infrastructure, establish staff training programmes and seek to take maximum advantage of the regional industrial supply potential. He also stressed that the company will spend significant sums on social projects in the region.
The Shtokman field will also result in the gasification of the region, and thus open up for new industrial establishments, Miller said.
