Alexey Miller holds conference call marking Oil and Gas Industry Workers Day

Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, today held in St. Petersburg a conference call marking Oil and Gas Industry Workers Day.

The meeting was broadcast live to 72 companies of the Gazprom Group.

The heads of Gazprom Dobycha Shelf Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Gazprom Geologorazvedka, Gazprom Transgaz Ukhta, and Gazprom Kyrgyzstan made operational performance reports at the meeting.

Message delivered by Alexey Miller at conference call marking Oil and Gas Industry Workers Day

Dear colleagues,

Let me wish you a happy Oil and Gas Industry Workers Day.

As usual, we celebrate our professional holiday with industrial accomplishments and new ambitious plans for the future.

Gazprom continues to strengthen its positions as a reliable supplier for Russian and foreign consumers. We ramp up production, break new export records, and advance toward the implementation of large-scale investment projects.

In the first eight months of 2017, we produced a total of 302.6 billion cubic meters of gas. It is a 20.1 per cent rise from last year, which translates into 50.7 billion cubic meters of gas in absolute terms.

Gazprom successfully fulfills its main purpose by providing Russian consumers with uninterrupted gas supplies. The Company’s gas deliveries to the domestic market grew by 8.4 per cent, or 11.2 billion cubic meters.

This year, we began to take stock of geological exploration in the Tambey group of fields in Yamal. Our gas reserves increased enormously, adding more than 4 trillion cubic meters. The overall amount of gas reserves in the Tambey group reached 6.7 trillion cubic meters.

The Yamal Peninsula is becoming Russia’s main gas production center. New transmission routes are evolving accordingly. We continue to expand the northern gas transmission corridor – the chief and most efficient route of gas supplies from central Russia to northwestern Europe.

As regards southern Europe, construction of the TurkStream gas pipeline is in full swing at the moment. Two microtunnels have been drilled and pipes have been pulled at the onshore section in Russia. As for the offshore section, a total of 220 kilometers have been laid along the two strings.

At the same time, we are building a formidable production complex in the east of Russia. It is the world’s largest investment project in the gas industry. The cornerstone of our strategy in Russia’s east is the Eastern Gas Program. We are actively working to set up new gas production centers in the Irkutsk Region and Yakutia. We are also ahead of schedule in constructing the Power of Siberia gas pipeline and the Amur Gas Processing Plant.

We carry on with our gasification efforts in Russian regions. Access to natural gas dramatically improves the quality of life, especially in rural areas. This year, the Gasification Program covers 68 regions of the Russian Federation. There is no doubt that Gazprom will fulfill all of its obligations under this socially significant project.

Dear colleagues,

Gazprom is the biggest exporter of gas to Europe. In 2016, we delivered a record 179.3 billion cubic meters of gas to the region. Our exports keep growing in 2017. According to estimates, we exported as much as 126.3 billion cubic meters of gas to that market in eight months. It is 12.1 per cent higher than in the same period of 2016, an increase of 13.6 billion cubic meters.

This past winter, we repeatedly set new records for daily gas supplies to Europe. The absolute maximum was registered on January 27, 2017, at 636.4 million cubic meters. These record figures demonstrably show that, during peak loads, the Company can provide consumers on a timely basis with as much gas as they need. This solidifies Gazprom’s reputation as a reliable supplier.

It should be noted that even this summer our export pipelines worked in winter mode. As a matter of fact, last week we set an all-time record for August in terms of daily utilization of the Company’s gas export capacities. The record – 590.3 million cubic meters – exceeds the maximum figure registered during the winter peaks of the 2015–2016 season.

Such excellent results are encouraging. But they also pose a challenge. If we have to work this hard in summer, we will need to put in even more tireless and concerted effort during peak loads next winter. This applies to every single link in our process chain, from production to transmission to supervisory control to marketing. It is extremely important. After all, we work to bring gas, electricity, and heat to the homes of millions of people in Russia and abroad.

Dear colleagues,

Let us celebrate our professional holiday. Happy Oil and Gas Industry Workers Day!

I would like to wish you further success in your work, happiness, good health, prosperity, and all the best. And, as we say here at Gazprom, let us go on with our work!