The Gazprom headquarters hosted today a working meeting between Alexander Ananenkov, Deputy Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee and Charles Watson, Shell Russia Country Chairman.

The parties noted a high level of the long-term partnership and discussed the prospects for the companies’ interaction on the global energy market. An emphasis was placed on successful delivery of the Sakhalin II project that enabled Russia to penetrate the liquefied natural gas (LNG) markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

The meeting participants also got acquainted with the expertise obtained by Gazprom and Shell in coalbed methane (CBM) production and addressed the sci-tech cooperation issues relevant to the Kemerovo CBM resources exploration and development.

Mutual interest was expressed in promoting the long-term cooperation on joint adoption of innovations and cutting-edge technologies, inter alia.

Based on the meeting results, the parties considered preparation of the documents required for arranging sci-tech cooperation on CBM production in the Kemerovo Oblast.

Background:

Shell is a British-Dutch petroleum company focused on hydrocarbons production, processing and marketing in 100 countries of the world.

On April 18, 2007 Gazprom and the shareholders of Sakhalin Energy (Royal Dutch Shell plc, Mitsui & Co. Ltd, and Mitsubishi Corporation), the Sakhalin II project operator, signed the Purchase and Sale Agreement under which Gazprom acquired a stake of 50 per cent plus one share in Sakhalin Energy.

As part of the project, Russia’s first LNG plant was commissioned in early 2009 paving the way for Russian LNG exports to foreign consumers. In 2010 the plant reached the nominal capacity of 9.6 million tons per annum.