courtesy Sakhalin Energy

Statoil would neither confirm nor deny on Tuesday the Norwegian state champion had been invited by Gazprom Neft, the gas monopoly's oil business, to help develop a field offshore Sakhalin island.

“The memorandum of understanding covered a range of business opportunities,” Statoil spokesman Ola Morton Aanestad said to OilGas24.com affiliate, Scandinavian Oil-Gas Magazine Tuesday.

Reuters reported Gazprom inviting Statoil to the Lopukhovsky block, once a BP-TNK lot.

The news agency also reported Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev was in a day of talks with ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Total, Chevron and oilfield services giant Schlumberger over ideas for tax breaks on offshore devleopments.

Meanwhile, Norwegian media Tuesday speculated French oil company Total had beat Statoil and Hydro to a Shtokman stake because Norway irked Russia suggesting the “threat of Russian investment” in Aker Kvaerner forced the use of taxpayer money on a 30 percent stake in the supplier-contractor