The deputy chairman didn't come

Gazprom's production unit reported with its second team

The traditional series of press conferences at Gazprom, which started this week on the eve of the annual meeting of shareholders, brought only disappointments instead of answers to the accumulated questions. Deputy Chairman of the Board Alexander Ananenkov, responsible for the production block, did not come to any of the two briefings on his topics, including yesterday’s, dedicated to production and development of the gas transportation system. Moreover, according to Vremya Novostei, he was not away or on sick leave, and there were no rumors about the precariousness of Mr. Ananenkov’s position. As a result, the head of the production department, Vsevolod Cherepanov, who was appointed just a couple of months ago, was forced to be responsible for the situation in the production sector of the concern, which affected the quality of the information provided. Two other board members whose participation in the press conference was announced - the head of the transportation department Oleg Aksyutin and the head of the strategic development department Vlada Rusakova also sent their deputies - Sergei Alimov and Sergei Pankratov.

The question, usual for such events, of when the gas transmission system could begin receiving gas from the Kharampur field owned by Rosneft and lifting restrictions on receiving gas from Rospan (TNK-BP), plunged the speakers into a stupor. Mr. Cherepanov had to declare: “No information.” Variations of this answer were heard on many other topics, ranging from the size of capital investments in one of the company’s highest priority gas transportation projects Bovanenkovo-Ukhta and Ukhta-Torzhok, through which it is planned to supply gas from the Yamal Peninsula, and ending with questions about the parameters of the development of Chayandinskoye deposits.

Prospects for the development of the company's production unit, according to yesterday's statements by a member of the Gazprom board, look as follows. Last year, as is known, the concern’s production collapsed by 16% to a historical low (461 billion cubic meters). Gazprom plans to exceed the pre-crisis production level only in 2013, when the group's enterprises will have to extract 565 billion cubic meters of gas. This year it is planned to produce 519 billion cubic meters, next year - 529 billion, and in 2011 - 542 billion cubic meters.

It is characteristic that in parallel, Deputy Minister of Energy Sergei Kudryashov gave journalists a much more optimistic forecast. “I think that in 2011 we (Russia - Ed. ) will exceed the pre-crisis level of production," he said. According to official data, in 2008, 663 billion cubic meters of gas were produced in the Russian Federation, of which 82% (549 billion cubic meters) came from Gazprom. Taking into account the monopolist’s approved plans, in order to fulfill Mr. Kudryashov’s forecast, independent producers must increase their own production to 130 billion cubic meters of gas. That is, up to approximately 20% of the total balance. Last year they produced 122 billion cubic meters. However, Vsevolod Cherepanov estimated the share of independents in the coming years at only 15%.

At the same time, information was confirmed yesterday that no one is counting on Shtokman gas anymore from the point of view of filling the new export route along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Simultaneously with Nord Stream, the Gryazovets-Vyborg gas pipeline system of the same capacity (55 billion cubic meters per year) will be put into operation. Although it was previously assumed that the fields of Western Siberia would load the underwater pipe only half, and the rest would be delivered through the Murmansk-Volkhov system from Shtokman. Now that the commissioning of a giant field on the Barents Sea shelf has been postponed until at least 2016, the issue has been finally resolved in favor of gas from a unified gas supply system. On the other hand, this apparently means that until the arrival of Shtokman gas we can forget about large-scale plans for gasification of the North-West region. All gas from the new capacities will go to Nord Stream.

Alexey GRIVACHS