The Gazprom Management Committee took notice of the information about the efficiency of the funds allocated for the pre-investment studies and research and development (R&D) activity between 2005 and 2010 as well as in the planned period between 2011 and 2013.

It was highlighted that between 2005 and 2010 Gazprom performed over 80 pre-investment studies on the crucial projects of the Company.

As of the end of 2010 Gazprom's subsidiaries were using 390 R&D results. Between 2005 and 2010 the economic effect produced by their implementation reached some RUB 6.5 billion.

The economic effect of the R&D results utilization by the subsidiaries between 2011 and 2013 is expected to exceed RUB 7 billion.

The Management Committee tasked the relevant departments of Gazprom to explore the issues of incorporating the pre-investment studies into the bulk of the new projects implemented by the Company. In addition, Gazprom's subsidiaries were tasked to study opportunities for increasing the R&D expenses.

Background

R&D execution implies theoretical end experimental studies to solve engineering, economical, social and other problems, search for principles and ways to create (upgrade) production and technologies, elaborate specifications.

Pre-investment studies asses engineering capability and economical feasibility for the projects implementation as well as suppose selection of the optimal option for the project implementation.

R&D and pre-investment studies performed by Gazprom are of paramount importance for taking reasonable managerial decisions, providing conditions for permanent development of the Company's technology, forming mid- and long-term development forecasts, particularly those for innovative development.

Gazprom annually performs considerable amount of R&D and pre-investment studies. The projects for the Cenomanian deposits development in the Vyngaiakhinskoye and Yety-Purovskoye fields as a unified gas production complex along with low pressure gas extraction and associated gas utilization in the Vyngapurovskoye field serve as a demonstrative example of the R&D execution efficiency in the recent years. Moreover, the Gazprom Energy Saving Programs are compiled on the basis of R&D.

Elaboration of the investment rationale for the Bovanenkovo field pre-development with the subsequent gas transmission speaks well for the efficiency of the pre-investment studies performed by Gazprom. These efforts allowed to reduce the total demand of the project for the capital investments by RUB 126 billion through selecting the optimal gas transmission procedure, optimizing the Bovanenkovo – Ukhta gas trunkline system route, choosing the optimal gas collection and treatment scheme, etc.

Gazprom is planning to gradually increase the investments in the R&D and pre-investment studies.