Gazprom ‘wins $22B Shell gas plan’

MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) — Royal Dutch Shell has offered to cede control of the $22 billion Sakhalin-2 project, Russia’s biggest single foreign investment, to state gas monopoly Gazprom after months of government pressure, industry sources said.

Such a deal would appear to mark a victory for the Kremlin, determined to wrest control over the “commanding heights” of the Russian economy, and a retreat by Shell.

Agreement in principle was reached at talks last week for Shell to reduce its 55 percent holding to a blocking stake of at least one-quarter in the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, the sources told Reuters.

Both companies confirmed Shell Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer had met Gazprom head Alexei Miller in Moscow on Friday, but declined to go into detail on their talks.

CNN