The Gazprom headquarters hosted a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company's Management Committee and Patrick Pouyanne, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Executive Committee of Total.

The parties addressed the core issues of the bilateral cooperation, giving attention to the current status of the agreements on joint development of oil and gas fields in Bolivia. It was noted that the preparation of wells and the relevant infrastructure was well underway as part of developing the Ipati and Aquio gas deposits before the start of commercial production scheduled for 2016.

The meeting also shared opinions regarding the project for joint development of hydrocarbon deposits in the Acero block. According to exploration data, the most promising structures within the contracted block are North Incahuasi and Ilinchupa.

The parties stressed the high potential of exploration activities in the new areas of Bolivia, taking into account the growth of gas consumption in the country.

About Total and Gazprom in Bolivia

Total is one of the world's largest energy companies handling the whole range of operations in the oil and gas sector from production to sales of marketable products to end consumers.

Bolivia has the third largest gas reserves in Latin America after Venezuela and Trinidad & Tobago. Bolivia's proven natural gas reserves make up 296 billion cubic meters.

The Ipati, Aquio and Acero licensed blocks are located in the southern part of Bolivia, within the Central Pre-Andean oil and gas bearing basin.

In 2010 Gazprom Group and Total signed a Farmout Agreement on the geological exploration project for the Ipati and Aquio blocks in Bolivia. Gazprom Group (represented by Gazprom EP International) holds 20 per cent in the project, Total – 60 per cent, Argentina's petroleum company Tecpetrol – 20 per cent.

In April 2008 YPFB and Gazprom signed an Agreement providing for the oil and gas potential of the Azero area to be studied, with the prospect of further exploration activity and field development.

In September 2008 Gazprom, YPFB and Total E&P Bolivie signed the trilateral Memorandum envisaging joint evaluation of the Azero block.
The project's shareholding structure at the stage of exploration in the Acero block is as follows: Gazprom Group (Gazprom EP International) – 50 per cent, Total (Total E&P Bolivie) – 50 per cent.

About Gazprom

Gazprom is a global energy company. Its major business lines are geological exploration, production, transportation, storage, processing and sales of gas, gas condensate and oil, sales of gas as a vehicle fuel as well as generation and marketing of heat and electric power.

Gazprom views its mission in reliable, efficient and balanced supply of natural gas, other energy resources and their derivatives to consumers.

Gazprom holds the world’s largest natural gas reserves. The Company’s share in the global and Russian gas reserves makes up 18 and 72 per cent respectively. Gazprom accounts for 14 and 74 per cent of the global and Russian gas output accordingly. At present, the Company actively implements large-scale projects aimed at exploiting gas resources of the Yamal Peninsula, Arctic Shelf, Eastern Siberia and the Far East, as well as hydrocarbons exploration and production projects abroad.

Gazprom is a reliable supplier of gas to Russian and foreign consumers. The Company owns the world’s largest gas transmission network – the Unified Gas Supply System of Russia with the total length of over 168 thousand kilometers. Gazprom sells more than half of overall produced gas to Russian consumers and exports gas to more than 30 countries within and beyond the former Soviet Union.