Denis Demin, Head of Information-Analytical Department of Energocapital

– Considering the inter-related nature of the activities of Gazprom and Rosatom, their cooperation is inevitable

On Dec 16 2008 Chairman of the Board of Gazprom OJSC Aleksey Miller and Director General of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation Sergey Kiriyenko signed a six-year general cooperation agreement. The agreeing parties are planning to implement strategic projects to develop sea and shelf gas deposits (Shtokmanovsky deposit, deposits in Yamal and the Far East); to supply electricity to gas transportation networks for supply of gas to regions of the Russian Federation and export of gas to Western Europe and South-east Asia; to coordinate inter-related investment projects; to develop new technologies, designing competitive (import-substituting) production for enhancing the efficiency of prospecting, extraction, transportation, storage, processing of natural gas and gas condensate. The parties are also planning to develop a program of scientific-technical cooperation to be renewed each three years and to set up a council for coordination of joint action under strategic projects and investment programs.

Considering the inter-related nature and the scale of the activities of Gazprom and Rosatom, their cooperation is inevitable. Rosatom has a number of scientific-industrial institutions working for the whole energy sector.

Two decades of stagnation have significantly narrowed the scientific-technical capacities of the energy sector. So, now that the investment demands of the sector are growing, big companies are trying to merge their scientific-technical functions. Despite macro-economic difficulties, Gazprom’s investment program envisages active modernization and enlargement, prospecting and development of deposits, use of complex modern technologies. This implies growing demand for automated control systems, development of special data and modeling of processes. Unfortunately, the domestic oil and gas service market is occupied by foreign players (Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes).

Perhaps, the intention to more actively use internal resources and to replace import comes from the state’s resolution to support the domestic demand in strategic fields. The total cost of Rosatom-Gazprom cooperation is modest yet (almost 500mln RUR a year). It seems that both parties realize the necessity of enlarging and deepening their cooperation and making it more specific.