The Board of Directors meeting goes on at Gazprom’s Headquarters.

The Board of Directors considered Company’s activity to increase utilization of gas as the motor fuel.

To enhance this work Gazprom’s Management Committee was charged to work out and approve the target integrated program on development of gas refueling network and the motor vehicle fleet working on natural gas.

Reference:

The Russian motor vehicle fleet working on natural gas makes up approximately 52 thousand units. At present, there are 215 motor vehicle gas-filling compressor stations (MVGFCS) in the Russian Federation. Their cumulative annual potential output is about 2 bcm. Gazprom owns 185 motor vehicle gas-filling compressor stations (87%). The Russian have realized 237 mcm of gas in 2005.

On the whole, motor vehicle fleet natural gas consumption is recently grows steadily by 25-30% a year.

In spite of gas motor fuel economic efficiency (gas motor fuel cost is 2.8-3.8 times less compared to the most known petrol grades) and this fuel relative ecological safety, further the MVGFCS network expansion is restrained in Russia by the following reasons:

• Lack of support and stimulation for this activity at the state level;
• Insufficient quantity of motor vehicles utilizing natural gas as motor fuel;
• Obsolete designing and fire-prevention standards inadequate to up-to-date technologies.

At present, Gazprom’s experts participate in elaboration of the draft law “On the use of alternative motor fuels”.

Gazprom’s representatives take part in regular international and Russian conferences, parliamentary hearings & round tables and regional meetings on wider natural gas utilization as motor fuel.

Gazprom has signed cooperation agreements with Pyazan and Penza authorities to convert motor transport and agricultural motor vehicles to gas as fuel. The similar documents are under preparation with other RF regions.

Gazprom participates in making of international transport corridors, providing necessary motor vehicles gas refueling: “Moscow-Minsk-Warsaw-Berlin”, “Helsinki,-S.Petersburg-Moscow”. These routes were proposed by V.I. Vernadsky Non-Government Ecological Fund and Gazprom and approved by the UN European Energy Commission.

Under Gazprom’s financial and organizational engagement agricultural motor vehicles were converted to gas fuel in Stavropol, Vladimir and Ryazan regions.

According to research program Gazprom has developed gas equipment for 70 makes of cars, lorries, busses, tractors, river vessels as well as new models of stationary, mobile gas-filing equipment were commissioned.