AUKRA, March 28 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's prime minister visited the island of Aukra in western Norway Tuesday as part of his two-day official visit to the country, where he observed the construction of a gas processing plant and a project to develop two gas fields off the Norwegian coast.
Mikhail Fradkov spoke to journalists after visiting the plant that will process gas from the Ormen Lange field in the Norwegian Sea: "Russia and Norway maintain cooperation in many spheres, oil and gas being the most interesting of them to us as partners."
Ormen Lange is being developed by Norsk Hydro, whereas Statoil is developing the Snoehvit field in the energy resource-rich Barents Sea, which Norway shares with Russia.
Both companies also want a share in the mooted project to develop the giant Shtokman deposit in the Russian part of the Barents Sea. The deposit holds an estimated 3.2 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and 31 million metric tons of gas condensate.
"The fact that Statoil and Norsk Hydro are in the shortlist [of bidders for Shtokman development] testifies to the companies' high capabilities," Fradkov said, adding however that the decision would be made at a corporate level and that the Norwegian companies had strong competitors.
Other companies vying for the Shtokman project include U.S. giants Chevron and ConocoPhilips and France's Total.
Russian Information Technology and Communications Minister Leonid Reiman, traveling with the premier, praised Norway's expertise and technology in off-shore gas production, highlighting the environmental safety of Norwegian technology.
Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom is selecting foreign partners for the project to develop the Shtokman deposit, located 650km from the Barents Sea port of Murmansk, and is expected to unveil its choice before April 15.
On Wednesday, Fradkov is expected to continue talks with Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, meet with Parliamentary President Thorbjoern Jagland, and have an audience with King Harald V.
