SOUTH STREAM'S OFFSHORE SECTION

NGE. Russia's Gazprom announced it is proceeding with the South Stream's offshore section, signing contracts with Italy's Saipem and a Japanese consortium comprised of Marubeni-Itochu and Sumitomo (40% of total output), United Metallurgical Company (35%) and Severstal (25%).

Oleg Aksyutin, Chief Executive Officer of South Stream Transport, and Stefano Bianchi, Senior Vice President of Saipem, signed a contract on Friday for the construction of the first line of the offshore section.

'According to the signed contracts worth around EUR 2 billion, Saipem will generate the project documentation, build the first offshore line of the South Stream gas pipeline as well as erect process facilities in the shore crossing areas as well as construct the landfalls,' reads the note.

The two parties agreed to start the 2,200-meter deep offshore project in autumn 2014.

'The construction of the first offshore line will last until the third quarter of 2015. At the end of the same year the first line will be commissioned,' explains the communiqué.

The final South Stream project, which envisages four offshore lines, moved on also with the signing of pipe procurement contracts for a value of 800 million. The Japanese consortium will provide pipes for the second line of South Stream's offshore section.