The Board of Directors meeting is going on at the Gazprom Headquarters.

The Board of Directors took to notice the information on Gazprom’s gas and oil geological exploration and production activities beyond Russia and the CIS.

The Company’s Management Committee was entrusted with further implementing the work aimed at the expansion and improvement of Gazprom’s activities in the said areas.

The Management Committee was also entrusted with initiating the Program for Gazprom’s gas and oil geological exploration and production activities beyond Russia and the CIS based on the operating results of the 1st quarter, 2009.

Background:

As part of its strategy targeted at becoming a global energy company – world leader, since 2006 Gazprom has intensified the work aimed at searching for opportunities of diversifying its proper resource base and expanding its presence abroad in the exploration and production segment. Among the target regions are: Northern Africa, Latin America and Western Africa, Middle East, India, Vietnam and Asia Pacific.

The exact measures taken by Gazprom lately with the view to expand the resource base abroad are: acquisition of a 49 per cent stake in Wintershall’s concessions in Libya following the asset swap deal with BASF, as well as winning the international tender for the right to explore and develop hydrocarbons at Block 19 situated in Libya’s Mediterranean Sea offshore.

The promising projects in the exploration and production segment implemented by Gazprom beyond Russia and the CIS at present involve:

Geological exploration at Block 26 in the Bengal Bay offshore India;

Geological exploration at Block 112 offshore Vietnam in the Gulf of Bac Bo of the South China Sea;

Geological exploration at Blocks Urumaco I and Urumaco II offshore Venezuela in the Gulf of Venezuela.

Additionally, intensive negotiations have been going on concerning Gazprom’s engagement into a number of projects in Venezuela, the possibilities for obtaining licenses to perform geological exploration in Bolivia are under discussion. The prospects for expansion the Company’s presence in the countries of Western Africa are being addressed. There are possibilities to obtain stakes in foreign projects in the exploration and production segment within the Agreement on Strategic Partnership signed by Gazprom with ENI and other companies.