Total to be partner of Gazprom for major Barents Sea gas field

French Total SA was chosen by Russian JSC Gazprom as a partner to develop the giant Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said Total would receive a 25 percent stake in the project and another foreign partner could be selected in the future.

Pipeline deliveries from the field, which holds an estimated 3.7 trillion cubic meters of gas, would begin in 2013 and the project would produce its first liquefied natural gas in 2014, Miller said in a statement.

"The agreement that has been reached is the latest important step in developing mutually beneficial cooperation and partnership relations between Gazprom and the world's biggest energy companies," he was quoted as saying.