Today Irkutsk has hosted a joint session of Gazprom’s Working Groups and the Irkutsk Oblast Administration on issues of regional gas supply and gasification.

The session was attended by Bogdan Budzulyak, Member of Gazprom's Management Committee, Head of the Department of Gas Transportation, Underground Storage and Utilization; Yury Paranichev, First Deputy Head of the Irkutsk Oblast Administration; heads and specialists of Gazprom’s subsidiaries and regional Administration.

The participants expressed common opinion that in 2006 purposeful work was done to implement General Scheme for gas supply and the Irkutsk Oblast gasification. Particularly, Gazprom jointly with the regional Administration defined top priority regional gasification facilities, signed the Memorandums for cooperation with independent gas producers, provided significant amount of geological works on the territory of the Yuzhno-Kovyktinskaya area in accordance with the terms of the License Agreement. The participants expressed opinion that all said issues create necessary conditions for gas supply to top-priority gasification facilities of the Irkutsk Oblast in accordance with the General Scheme.

Gazprom developed the Graph for synchronization of geological, engineering and construction works enabling to provide gas supply to top priority consumers in the Irkutsk Oblast in 2007 and 2008.

The meeting resulted in signing the Protocol between Gazprom and the Irkutsk Oblast Administration to stipulate major activities for the Graph implementation requiring assistance from the Irkutsk Administration side. Special attention in the Protocol is paid to timely preparation of regional consumers for gas supply.

Reference:

The Agreement on cooperation between Gazprom and the Irkutsk Oblast Administration was signed in February 2004. The Agreement on gasification was signed in December 2005.

The General Scheme of Gas Supply to and Gasification of the Irkutsk Oblast was approved by the Decree of the Irkutsk Region’s authorities on December 28, 2005. The Scheme contemplates establishing in the region a comprehensive system of gas production, transmission and supply based on local hydrocarbon resources.

Gazprom provides exploration and geological works in Western and Eastern parts of the Yuzhno-Kovyktinskaya area in the Irkutsk Oblast.

In September 2006 Gazprom and ITERA, in the framework of the General Scheme implementation for gas supply and gasification of Irkutsk Oblast, signed the Memorandum for cooperation on issues of the Bratsk gas condensate field in the Irkutsk Oblast. The document, in particular, stipulates that ITERA will bring onstream the Bratsk gas condensate field as the source of hydrocarbons and regional gasification in 2008. The license for development belongs to ITERA’s subsidiary Bratskecogaz. Gas produced will be sold to Gazprom within the terms agreed.

In November 2006 Gazprom and the Irkutsk Oil Company signed the Memorandum for cooperation on issues on gas of the Markovskoye oil & gas condensate and Ayanskoye gas fields in the Irkutsk Oblast. In accordance with the document, Irkutsk Oil Company and its affiliated and dependent companies will sell to Gazprom natural gas of the Markovskoye oil & gas condensate and Ayanskoye gas fields.

The Board ordered to include in Gazprom’s 2007 budget not less than RUR 20.2 bln (RUR 8 bln up on previous projections) for the Program implementation purposes. Increased investments will enable to incorporate the Program 5 more RF constituents including the Irkutsk Oblast, Altai Republic, Dagestan, Karelia and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.