The shareholders agreement expired on 30 June 2012 without development started. Statoil wrote off its investment into the project and handed shares back to Gazprom. In August 2012, Gazprom put the project on hold with a final investment decision on the first phase postponed until at least 2014, citing high costs and low gas prices. However, the company confirmed being in talks with foreign partners to find a new business model for the project. There are speculations that Royal Dutch Shell may become a project partner.