OREANDA-NEWS. April 20, 2007. Gazprom and Shell late Wednesday signed a protocol on the state-run gas giant's entry into Sakhalin-2, closing the final chapter on months of uncertainty surrounding the world's largest integrated oil and gas project.

"The path to today's milestone was not easy," Gazprom deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev said at a news conference at Shell's Moscow offices.

Medvedev was flanked by the country managers of Sakhalin-2 shareholders Shell, Mitsui and Mitsubishi, as well as Ian Craig, head of project operator Sakhalin Energy.

Craig is due to step down in favor of a Gazprom manager as early as next year.

The understated ceremony stood in marked contrast to the fanfare at the Kremlin meeting in December, when President Vladimir Putin gathered the parties' CEOs to announce that Gazprom would get a controlling stake in the project. It came after months of pressure from government officials.

Wednesday's ceremony was held after two days of high-level meetings to wrap up details of the deal.

On Monday, the Industry and Energy Ministry, which oversees Sakhalin-2 as part of a production sharing agreement, approved a $19.4 billion budget for the project's second phase, which is scheduled to run through 2014. Shell, until Wednesday the project's majority shareholder, had requested a budget of $22 billion.