GAZPROM ENGAGES RUSSIAN PIPE MANUFACTURERS IN NGV MARKET DEVELOPMENT
As part of the 5th St. Petersburg International Gas Forum, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and senior officials of the leading domestic pipe manufacturing companies – United Metallurgical Company, Pipe Metallurgical Company TMK and Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant – signed today memorandums on natural gas use as a vehicle fuel.
The cooperation of the companies under the signed memorandums pursues the following goals: converting the equipment of pipe manufacturers and their subsidiaries to natural gas as well as creating the enabling conditions for the Russian NGV market development.
In order to achieve the synergy of efforts, pipe manufacturers should provide Gazprom with the data on planned conversion of the operating equipment to natural gas and on purchases of new NGV equipment. Gazprom, on its part, will inform the partners on its plans to expand the gas filling infrastructure in its activity regions and, if necessary, update these plans.
The parties agreed to work out and implement NGV utilization programs as well as to initiate jointly the similar industry-wide and regional programs.
Preparing proposals on NGV market development for regional and federal authorities was identified as another area of the joint activities.
Background
Gazprom extensively develops the Russian NGV market to bring it up to a new level.
Special emphasis is placed on proliferation of gas-powered equipment and vehicles. For instance, Gazprom Gazomotornoye Toplivo, a special-purpose company of Gazprom, entered into agreements of cooperation with 28 Russian and foreign car makers as well as with major NGV suppliers.
Gazprom Gazomotornoye Toplivo signed agreements on wider use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel with 40 constituents of the Russian Federation. According to the documents, the regional authorities undertake to set up (expand) the NGV equipment fleet in parallel with the construction of new CNG filling stations.
Gazprom adopted the program on conversion of in-house vehicles to natural gas. It is planned to bring the share of NGV equipment in the total vehicle fleet to 30 per cent in 2015; this figure will rise to 50 per cent by 2017 and to 70 per cent by 2020.
