OREANDA-NEWS. The Mineral and Raw Material Base Development. Gas Production. Gas Transmission System Development Press Conference was held at the Gazprom headquarters today in the lead-up to the annual General Shareholders Meeting. The Press Conference featured Vitaly Markelov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee, and the Management Committee Members Oleg Aksyutin, Vyacheslav Mikhalenko, Sergey Prozorov, and Vsevolod Cherepanov.

It was noted at the Press Conference that Gazprom had a unique hydrocarbon resource base. As of December 31, 2015, the explored А+В+С1 (under the Russian classification) natural gas reserves of Gazprom amounted to 36.15 trillion cubic meters, which equated to 72 and around 17 per cent of the Russian and global reserves respectively.

The Company's resource base is systematically expanding. In 2015, Gazprom added 531.1 billion cubic meters of gas to its C1 reserves thanks to geological exploration, while the reserve replacement ratio stood at 1.27. Most of the gas was added by the Yuzhno-Kirinskoye (213.2 billion cubic meters) and Chayandinskoye (205 billion cubic meters) fields located in eastern Russia.

In 2015, Gazprom also discovered the Padinskoye field in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area. The С1+С2 gas reserves of the field exceed 193.7 billion cubic meters.

Last year, the Company extracted 418.5 billion cubic meters of gas, 36 million tons of oil, and 15.3 million tons of gas condensate. Gazprom continued to ramp up its production from Bovanenkovskoye, the largest field of the Yamal Peninsula. In 2015, the field produced 61.9 billion cubic meters of gas, up by 19.1 billion cubic meters against 2014.

The Company is actively working to develop its gas transmission system in Russia. Over the course of 2015, the overall length of the system increased from 170,700 to 171,200 kilometers. Gazprom is currently implementing a number of strategic gas transmission projects, including the construction of the Ukhta – Torzhok 2 trunkline. The linear part of the pipeline will be built to completion in 2016.

In eastern Russia, the Company is constructing the Power of Siberia gas trunkline. As of today, a total of 115 kilometers of the linear part has been welded and laid within the sections from the Chayandinskoye field to Olyokminsk.

In addition, the Press Conference touched upon other aspects of the Company's operational activities.