January 26 - Panalpina is opening an office in Murmansk.

Located on the Cola Peninsula, in close proximity to Shtokman Gas Field Development, and being the major hub for international air and ocean traffic, Murmansk is the ideal location for Panalpina to develop its logistics infrastructure.

The Shtokman Gas Field Development is the world's largest natural gas field and since 1992 Sevmorneftegaz, a joint venture of Russian energy companies Gazprom and Rosneft, has been holding the licence to operate the field.

The field is of strategic importance for Gazprom and will become a resource base for Russian pipeline gas as well as liquefied natural gas exports to the Atlantic Basin markets.

As a major player in the Oil & Gas market, Panalpina will concentrate on provision of services to the leading international and Russian companies from its new office including seismic companies, drilling contractors, supply and support vessel operators, oilfield service and supply companies, engineering companies and offshore construction companies.

"We are confident that with our strong market position in air and ocean freight combined with a focused approach to logistics and supply chain management solutions and extensive local knowledge, Panalpina will establish itself as the leading player in this strategic area," says Stefan Karlen, managing director of Panalpina Russia.