Saint Petersburg has hosted today the opening ceremony of the 9th International Conference for Oil and Gas Resources Development of the Russian Arctic and CIS Continental Shelf RAO/CIS OFFSHORE 2009. The Company’s delegation led by Valery Golubev, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee is taking part in the Conference.

In his speech at the plenary session, Valery Golubev stated that Gazprom was implementing ambitious offshore projects for hydrocarbons exploration and production. “The projected 43 per cent increase in aggregate reserves of Gazprom by 2030 will be achieved through offshore production,” emphasized the speaker.

Valery Golubev noted that execution of offshore projects by Gazprom, such as the Shtokman field development, would help to improve the existing techniques and to elaborate the new ones for hydrocarbons exploration and production on the shelf under the challenging climatic and geological conditions. “So far, Shtokman is a perfect platform for developing the solutions that will be highly demanded both domestically and worldwide,” said Valery Golubev.

The 9th International Conference for Oil and Gas Resources Development of the Russian Arctic and CIS Continental Shelf RAO/CIS OFFSHORE 2009 will run until September 18. An exhibition accompanies the Conference.

Background:

The International Conference for Oil and Gas Resources Development of the Russian Arctic and CIS Continental Shelf RAO/CIS OFFSHORE has been held in Saint Petersburg since 1993. The Conference is organized by the Natural Resources Ministry of the Russian Federation, Federal Agency for Subsoil Use of the Russian Federation, Federal Energy Agency of the Russian Federation, Gazprom, Lukoil, Gazprom neft shelf, Gazprom VNIIGAZ and Restec Exhibition Company.

The Conference pursues the major objective of developing a constructive dialogue of the Government, leading petroleum companies and prominent experts on issues relevant to the Russian shelf development with due regard to environmental programs and in cooperation with the countries located near the Arctic zone.

The constant participants of the RAO/CIS OFFSHORE Conference are world’s leading petroleum companies, such as Gazprom, Lukoil, BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell International and Production Services BV, Total SA, Statoil ASA, Wintershall AG, as well as Russian scientific centers and equipment & vessels producers for offshore development – Gazprom VNIIGAZ, Rubin Central Design Bureau of Marine Engineering, Monolit Central Design Bureau, Krylov Central Research Institute, Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, Sevmash Production Association, Admiralty Shipyards, etc.