"Gazprom will use 100% of the Shtokman field resources on its own"

This is the very first sentence that you can see on Gazprom's homepage. Alexander Medvedev can talk and offer assurances and promises to anxious European public and politicians. But at the end of the day that's what it is - talk. The truth probably is that nobody, including the Gazprom officials, knows how the project will be carried out.

Alexey Miller: “Gazprom will use 100 per cent of the Shtokman field resources on its own. Over the continuous period of time Gazprom has studied the possibility of providing foreign companies with a 49 per cent stake in the Shtokman project. International companies however failed to offer assets matching Shtokman’s reserves in amount and quality. The field will be developed with the use of state-of-the-art technological developments, including for LNG production. Authoritative international companies will be invited as project contractors for these purposes. Meeting project deadlines and costs is a prerequisite for prospective contract awards. This decision is an additional guarantee of the Russian gas supply to Europe security in the long-term and proof that the European market is of dominating significance for Gazprom”.