The situation "With or without Shtokman"

After the Board of Directors of Shtokman Development has decided to postpone the decision about development Shtokman gasfield in Barents ocean, it seems that many companies were beginning to establish themselves in Murmansk, now on hold – and that is understandable. The question now arises: Is the Murmansk and Northwest Russia as interesting for foreign companies without Shtokman? – And on the other areas, a commitment could take place similar what one would look at the development of the Shtokman gas field in the near future?
Northwest Russia is a large geographic area that offers many exciting opportunities, but the possibilities are sufficiently large and predictable at the same time that foreign companies will now orient themselves towards the area with a view to establishing business?
There are certainly many opinions about the Shtokman ever will be developed after the shale gas is about to come on the market and among that the U.S. can be an exporter of gas in place for a long term importer of natural gas. The Shtokman field is nevertheless a resource for use in the future – when the time comes to exploitation.

As I see it, there is some frustration coming from foreign investors, and this is mostly panic-mongering Mass Media to blame. Still Shtokman is about money, while money takes risks and time.

Whatever happens to Murmansk, it is not only about Shtokman. Despite its promising opportunities and resources, the region is obviously underdeveloped and here we may find too many reasons for that. Most of them are political to my point of view. At any rate, any underdeveloped (and promising!) area should be the target for investors that follow the rule “First come, first served.” This is what Olen Betong has done; this is what VBS and Reinertsen are doing here. This is for other dozens of foreign companies that presently operate in Murmansk. They found their niche in the region that has a number of other gaps to fill. Port terminals, power plants, recycling, timber, tourism, energy saving, ecology, etc… Besides, Murmansk could also be a starting point for any Norwegian company that intends to go Russia-wide since Murmansk has already been “tested” by Norwegian businesses and the cooperation Russia-Norway is pretty obvious here. Going internationally is expensive? Try Murmansk at local business incubator to save efforts and money.

I could give one example of “underdevelopment” of Murmansk region. Construction. There is no infrastructure, the construction materials (nearly all kind of them) are to be brought from the central part of Russia. Consequently, the price for newbuilding is extremely high. Consequently, there is no interest for newbuilding… Consequently, the infrastructure for construction is not being developed. It’s a kind of a circle, may be somebody will break through it some day and get the biggest piece of pie?