A Gazprom delegation, led by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee paid today a working visit to Libya. As part of the visit Alexey Miller met with Shokri Mohamed Ghanem, Chairman of the Management Committee of the Libyan National Oil Corporation.

The parties discussed the issues of interaction within the key production projects of Gazprom and Libya and noted that the project works were been timely implemented in strict compliance with the applicable schedule. Alexey Miller and Shokri Mohamed Ghanem addressed further steps aimed at deepening cooperation in the oil and gas sector.

The current state of affairs on the global oil and gas markets was also discussed at the meeting. The parties were unanimous in their evaluation of the key market trends and noted the necessity to further improve the hydrocarbon marketing structure.

Background:

A key challenge facing Gazprom is access to new markets, expansion of the resource base and diversification of production capacities. While meeting these challenges, Gazprom is active in North Africa and primarily in Libya, where the Company has set up a Tripoli based special purpose company Gazprom Libya.

Between 2006 and 2007 Gazprom obtained through bidding procedures the right to explore for and produce hydrocarbons at the promising licensed blocks 19 (Mediterranean offshore) and 64 (300 km south of Tripoli). The 3D seismic survey has been performed at the blocks and the pre-drilling operations are in progress.

In December 2007, following the asset swap deal with BASF, Gazprom acquired a 49 per cent stake in Libya’s oil concessions C 96 and C 97 owned by Wintershall AG. These concessions are governed by the agreements effective till 2026. The concessions include nine fields with As Sarah as the largest. Current oil production is about 6 million tons of oil per annum. Geological exploration is still in progress and work is underway to maintain the current production level at the concession C 96 and boosting production at C 97.

As part of its Strategic Cooperation Agreement with Italy’s ENI, Gazprom is negotiating the possibility of swapping assets, including assets in Libya.