The Gazprom headquarters hosted today a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company's Management Committee and Sergey Frank, Director General of Sovcomflot.

The parties addressed cooperation issues, including the arrangement of hydrocarbons transportation via the Northern Sea Route (NSR).

Sergey Frank informed Alexey Miller that the SCF Amur carrier had successfully completed her voyage. The vessel was the first to deliver a cargo of petroleum products owned by Gazprom Neft via the new high-latitude NSR.

The SCF Amur vessel covered the NSR in record time for 2012 summer navigation – 7 days. Therefore, energy resources are shipped significantly faster via the Northern Sea Route than via the traditional route, i.e. the Suez Canal.

Background

In January 2012 Gazprom and Sovcomflot reached the agreement on arranging a test shipment via the Northern Sea Route to deliver the Gazprom hydrocarbons to the Asia-Pacific market, taking into account the growing urgency for energy resources supplies to the region.

The August passage of the SCF Amur vessel became the fourth transit passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean through the Arctic for Sovcomflot. The Sovcomflot passages along the Northern Sea Route that commenced in 2010 went down to the world navigation history. In 2010 the SCF Baltica vessel became the first large-capacity vessel that ever passed through the Northern Sea Route loaded with petroleum products. In 2011 the Vladimir Tikhonov vessel of 163 thousand tons deadweight discovered a new high-latitude route within the Northern Sea Route and became the largest vessel ever navigated along the Arctic routes.