Russian PM rounds off visit to Norway, signs agreements

OSLO, March 29 (RIA Novosti) - Three agreements were signed in Norway Wednesday as part of the Russian prime minister's official visit to the country.

An agreement was signed by the countries' justice ministers to advance cooperation between the ministries and police forces, in the presence of Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and his Norwegian counterpart Jens Stoltenberg.

A memorandum to step up efforts to ensure security of navigation in the Norwegian Sea and the neighboring Barents Sea, and a memo on exchanges under the Presidential Initiative personnel training program, were also signed.

On Tuesday, accompanied by Stoltenberg, the Russian premier visited the island of Aukra in western Norway, where was shown the construction of a gas processing plant and projects to develop two gas fields off the Norwegian coast, to be implemented by Norwegian energy companies Norsk Hydro and Statoil.

Norsk Hydro is developing Ormen Lange field on the Norwegian shelf. 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 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 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. oil majors Chevron and ConocoPhilips, and France's Total.

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 Tuesday, Russian Information Technology and Communications Minister Leonid Reiman, traveling with the premier, had praised Tuesday Norway's expertise and environment-friendly technology in off-shore gas production.

Eivind Reiten, CEO of Hydro, also a major aluminum company, said Tuesday that he expected to meet with authorities of Russia's Murmansk Region near the Norwegian border next week to discuss the possible construction of an aluminum plant there.

During his Wednesday visit, Fradkov also held talks with Parliamentary President Thorbjoern Jagland.

An audience with King Harald V and Queen Sonja in Oslo rounded off Fradkov's visit to the country.