OREANDA-NEWS. October 7, 2009. Led by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, the Company’s delegation is taking part in the 24th World Gas Conference (WGC) being held on 5–9 October in Buenos Aires.

As part of the Forum Alexey Miller delivered an address themed “Security of Supply and Related Investments”. In his address he stated that “Gazprom stands for combined efforts and maximum coordination among the global gas market players in order to secure sustainable development of the gas industry”.

Alexey Miller also noted that “Today, cooperation in the energy sector between Gazprom and hydrocarbon consuming countries is based on the balance between interest and market risks shared among producers and prominent wholesale importers. Such cooperation is feasible due to the existing system of long-term contracts.

The operating track-record of this system, whereby producers bear the technological and price risks and large importers bear gas offtake risks under the ‘take-or-pay’ obligations, points to its reliability and viability in the future”.

It was also declared that “Joint execution of large-scale international projects by suppliers and consumers strengthens trust and enhances natural gas supply security. This can be exemplified by South Stream and Nord Stream, the joint projects carried out by Gazprom and its European partners and oriented at creating the common energy space in Europe”.

In addition, Alexey Miller emphasized that “Another essential issue we have to face together, particularly within the International Gas Union, is forming the global gas balance as a basic principle for long-term planning across the entire gas industry”.

On the first day of the WGC Alexey Miller had a number of meetings with top executives of the world’s largest energy companies.

In particular, Alexey Miller took part in the meeting of keynote speakers, Antonio Gomis, Chairman of the WGC Session, Executive Managing Director of YPF S.A. and Ernesto Anadon, President of the International Gas Union. The meeting discussed the outcomes of the global gas market studies performed by the Working and Programme Committees of the International Gas Union.

Alexey Miller negotiated with Marcel Kramer, Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer of N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie. The parties paid special attention to the Nord Stream gas pipeline construction. Alexey Miller and Marcel Kramer expressed concern over the new rules of the German gas infrastructure regulation, which may affect the construction of new pipelines in Germany required to accommodate a Nord Stream flow.

Alexey Miller met with Zhou Jiping, Vice President of China National Petroleum Corporation – President of PetroChina. The parties addressed the interaction issues during the Eastern Gas Program execution including preparation of documents for natural gas supplies from Russia to China.

Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Antonio Brufao Niubo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Repsol discussed the prospects for extensive bilateral cooperation within the previous agreements, inter alia, within the asset swap deals. The parties discussed the possible ways of executing joint projects on international energy markets and, particularly, the Yamal LNG project. The accords have been reached to hold the next round of top-level negotiations in December 2009.