Today the Gazprom Headquarters hosted a working meeting between Alexander Ananenkov, Deputy Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee and Sergey Shatirov, Member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, First Deputy Chairman of the Industrial Policy Committee of the Federation Council, Head of the Representative Office of the Kemerovo Oblast Administration under the Russian Federation Government.

The parties discussed the progress with implementing an innovative project for pilot production and commercial utilization of coalbed methane (CBM) in the Kemerovo Oblast.

It was noted that in the current year Gazprom had launched pilot commercial operation of seven exploratory wells drilled in the eastern sector of the Taldinskoye CBM field. So far, the natural gas produced in the field was used to refuel vehicles at the mobile filling station.

In early 2010 Gazprom is planning to commission a stationary filling station in the Kemerovo Oblast for CBM utilization as a motor fuel for natural gas vehicles.

Background:

The Taldinskoye CBM field is located in the central part of the Erunakovsky geological-economic area of the Kuznetsky basin within the Novokuznetsky and Prokopyevsky Districts of the Kemerovo Oblast 65 kilometers to the north of the city of Novokuznetsk. Ñ1+Ñ2 gas reserves approved in May 2009 by the Russian Natural Resources and Ecology Ministry account for 44.8 billion cubic meters.

In 2005 Gazprom established a test site for the CBM production technology development at the Taldinskoye field in Kuzbass.

In 2009 seven exploratory wells with the depth ranging from 600 to 1,000 meters were drilled in the eastern sector of the Taldinskoye CBM field. Gazprom dobycha Kuznetsk, a fully-owned subsidiary of Gazprom, is the license owner.