The Gazprom Headquarters hosted today a working meeting of Alexander Ananenkov, Deputy Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee and Noriaki Sakamoto, Chairman of Mitsui & Co. Moscow, Member of the Management Committee, Chief Regional Representative in CIS, Mitsui & Co., Ltd.

The parties positively evaluated the cooperation between the companies within the Sakhalin II project, placing an emphasis on the fact that the launch of Russian gas exports to Japan met the goals of energy supply diversification and contributed significantly to the energy security assurance.

Special attention was paid to the possible interaction of Gazprom and Mitsui as part of the Eastern Gas Program including gas processing and gas chemistry projects as well as LNG production in Russia.

Alexander Ananenkov highlighted: “Increasing LNG production and creating new capacities on gas liquefaction and marine transportation should necessarily provide for a massive participation of Russian machine- and shipbuilders in these projects. It is also necessary to jointly develop new technologies”.

Background:

Mitsui & Co., Ltd (Mitsui) is involved in development, purchasing, sales, distribution and processing of all types of energy industry products in Japan and abroad, and in financial activities.

Mitsui holds 12.5 per cent in Sakhalin Energy, operator of Sakhalin II, the world’s largest petroleum project. Among the project’s participants are also Gazprom (50 per cent plus one share), Shell (27.5 per cent), and Mitsubishi (10 per cent).

On February 18, 2009 the first Russian LNG plant was inaugurated as part of the Sakhalin II project.

The first tanker with Russian LNG on board arrived in Japan in April 2009.

The September 3, 2007 Order by the Russian Federation Industry and Energy Ministry approved the Development Program for an integrated gas production, transportation and supply system in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, taking into account potential gas exports to China and other Asia-Pacific countries (Eastern Gas Program). Gazprom was named by the Russian Government as the Eastern Program coordinator.