OAO Gazprom Management Committee Chairman Alexei Miller and the Chairman of Gas Natural Salvador Gabarró signed a Memorandum of Understanding today in Madrid as part of a state visit of Russian President Dmitri Medvedev to Spain.

The memorandum foresees cooperation between the companies in medium- and long-term trade in natural gas, including liquefied natural gas, CO2 emission quotas, as well as cooperation in electric power production and the development of other lines of business.

Background:

Spain does not have significant reserves of natural gas and is almost fully dependent on imported gas, of which 36% is supplied by pipeline and 64% in liquefied form.

Spain is currently one of the fastest-growing markets of Western Europe, its consumption of natural gas having risen from 8.3 bcm in 1995 to 35.1 bcm in 2007.

Gas accounts for 29% of Spain’s primary energy resource consumption.

Gas Natural Company supplies, transports and distributes natural gas and produces electric power in Spain and abroad.

The main shareholders in the company are la Caixa Investment Financial Group, which owns 37.5%; Repsol YPF, 31% and GDF Suez, 9%.