Today in Murmansk Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Dmitry Dmitrienko, Governor of the Murmansk Oblast, have signed an Agreement of Cooperation over 2010 to 2015.

The Agreement promotes the bilateral relations within Gazprom’s strategic projects in the Murmansk Oblast including, first of all, the project for the Shtokman gas condensate field (GCF) comprehensive development, construction of an offshore gas pipeline and gas processing facilities, namely, an LNG plant, and the Murmansk – Volkhov gas trunkline.

Pursuant to the Agreement, Gazprom will consider the possibility of taking part in the construction of a highway to the settlement of Teriberka as well as in the building of residential apartments, social facilities and health care institutions in the region for the purpose of shaping the engineering, transportation and social infrastructure for projects execution in the Murmansk Oblast. The decision will be adopted relevant to the Company’s participation in re-construction of the existing and construction of new utilities in the settlement of Lodeynoye.

When operating the ready facilities of the Unified Gas Supply System in the Murmansk Oblast, Gazprom will preferably attract the local staff and, additionally, will assist the local citizens in obtaining the necessary vocational training.

The Murmansk Oblast Government will create favorable conditions for Gazprom to invest in gas production, transmission and liquefaction and hydrocarbon processing projects in compliance with the effective law. In particular, Gazprom will be assisted in land allocation, state registration of property right, taxation and other issues.

Background:

The Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Murmansk Oblast Government was signed in November 2005.

At present, the Murmansk Oblast doesn’t receive grid gas. During the Shtokman GCF project execution it is planned to construct the Murmansk – Volkhov gas pipeline meant to be a starting point for the first phase of the regional gasification process. The projected length of the pipeline will account for 1,365 kilometers, the annual throughput capacity – from 28 to 50 billion cubic meters depending on production volumes.

The Shtokman GCF is situated in the central region of the Russian sector of the Barents Sea.

The field’s C1+C2 reserves account for 3.8 trillion cubic meters of gas and around 31 million tons of gas condensate.

The Shtokman GCF development project is of strategic significance for Gazprom. The field will become a resource base for deliveries of Russian gas, both pipeline and LNG, to markets of the Atlantic basin.