Gazprom headquarters hosted today a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company's Management Committee and Bolat Akchulakov, President of KazMunaiGaz National Company.

The parties addressed bilateral cooperation deepening in the energy sector. The meeting participants appreciated the performance of KazRosGaz joint venture.

A focus was also placed on potential joint development of the Imashevskoye and Tsentralnoye cross-border fields in the Caspian Sea.

Alexey Miller highlighted an upward trend in Kazakhstan's domestic gas consumption: “This is a good indicator of economic growth. In 2011 Russian gas deliveries to Kazakhstan will grow by 10 per cent as compared to the previous year. Cooperation between Gazprom and KazMunaiGaz is successful and mutually beneficial in all of the areas of the gas business – production, transmission, processing and supply. Our constructive interaction will keep on progressing”.

Background

In June 2002 Gazprom and KazMunaiGaz National Company founded a 50/50 Kazakhstan-based joint venture – KazRosGaz – dealing with natural gas procurement, marketing and processing at Russian plants as well as with other activities.

On September 7, 2010 Russia and Kazakhstan entered into the Intergovernmental Agreement on joint geological survey and exploration of the cross-border Imashevskoye gas and condensate field.

In April 2011 Gazprom and KazMunaiGaz signed the Agreement identifying KazRosGaz as the Imashevskoye field operator.

The Imashevskoye field is located 60 kilometers northeast of Astrakhan in Russia and 250 kilometers southwest of Atyrau in Kazakhstan's Kurmangazy District. The field contains over 100 billion cubic meters of explored gas reserves. The Russian sector of the Imashevskoye field is currently a part of the undistributed stock of subsurface resources.

In accordance with the Joint Statement by Russian and Kazakh Presidents of December 10, 2010 and paragraph 9 of the Joint Action Plan of Russia and Kazakhstan over 2011–2012, TsentrCaspneftegaz (a joint venture between Gazprom and Lukoil) is tasked with preparing a Tsentralnoye Field Production Sharing Agreement for signing until late 2012.