Gazprom starts undersea pipeline section

Russia’s state-owned major Gazprom has begun construction of an undersea section of gas pipeline across Baidarata Bay in the southern Kara Sea, the company announced in a release Aug. 12. The 660-mile pipeline will transport gas from the Bovanenkovskoe field on the Yamal Peninsula southwest to the city of Ukhta in the Komi Republic. The section that crosses Baidarata Bay is about 43 miles long and is scheduled to be completed in 2011. The steel pipes for this technically challenging part of the project were developed and manufactured by Russian companies, Gazprom stressed.

Gazprom also said recently that it will increase investment in the Bovanenkovskoe field for 2008 by 10 billion rubles ($406.1 million) to around 105 billion rubles ($4.3 billion). At the same time, the company will cut this year’s spending on the Shtokman project in the Barents Sea from a planned 16.2 billion rubles ($657.9 million) to 14.7 billion rubles ($597 million).

—Sarah Hurst