Saint Petersburg hosted today a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Christophe de Margerie, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Total.

The meeting discussed the main issues of Phase 1 implementation at the Shtokman field and, inter alia, the scope of work over a period until the Final Investment Decision is made.

Background

The Shtokman field is situated in the central part of the continental shelf within the Russian sector of the Barents Sea.

C1 reserves of the field make up 3.9 trillion cubic meters of gas and 56 million tons of gas condensate, with 3.9 trillion cubic meters of gas and 53.3 million tons of gas condensate located within Gazprom's licensed area.

The Shtokman gas and condensate field development project is of strategic importance for Gazprom. The project implementation will give a start to a new gas production region on the Arctic shelf of Russia.

The Shtokman field will become a resource base for building up deliveries of Russian gas both by pipeline and in the form of liquefied natural gas to domestic and foreign markets.

Gazprom Neft Shelf, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gazprom, holds the gas and gas condensate exploration and production license for the Shtokman field.

On February 21, 2008 Gazprom, Total and StatoilHydro (present Statoil) signed the Shareholders Agreement on establishing Shtokman Development AG, a special purpose vehicle to implement Phase 1 of the project. Gazprom holds 51 per cent in the company, while Total and Statoil hold 25 and 24 per cent accordingly.

Shtokman Development AG will own Shtokman Phase 1 infrastructure for 25 years, starting from the date on which the field is brought onstream.