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Photo Credit: http://www.gazprom.com/
After years of bitter disputes about the Third Energy Charter and the South Stream with the EU, Gazprom has turned its eyes towards Asia and its energy-demanding markets.
In early February, the Russian gas giant has held its 10th annual Investor Day in the Asia-Pacific for the first time in its history.
Gazprom brought high-profile executives to meet institutional investors in Hong Kong and Singapore. “Taking part in the events were Andrey Kruglov and Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairmen of the Gazprom Management Committee; Dmitry Lyugai and Vsevolod Cherepanov, Members of the Gazprom Management Committee as well as heads of the Company’s specialized structural units and subsidiaries,” says the press release.
Some 110 portfolio managers and analysts from major international investment funds and credit institutions attended the event In Hong Kong on February 3. In Singapore, the crowd was bigger, 120+ analysts from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan, BNP Baribas London, Citibank, UBS, Otkritie Capital, Gazprombank and other institutions.
“As part of the Investor Day, around 30 individual meetings with major Asian investment funds took place, question and answer sessions, in Hong Kong as well, were webcast live,” reads the official statement.
“Gazprom’s global depositary receipts were included into the quotation list of the Singapore Exchange, which became an important step towards enhancing the international investment base. At present the Company is considering the possibility of getting a listing at the Hong Kong Exchange where the securities of such petroleum majors as PetroChina, Sinopec and CNOOC are traded,” according to the release.
In mid-2014, Chinese CNPC signed a preliminary deal on gas and oil supplies with Russia’s Gazprom and Rosneft.
CNPC and Gazprom plan to negotiate the final price by the end of the year, with the volume of supplies estimated at 38 billion cubic meters.
The deal is expected to become effective starting from 2016.
The gas is expected to flow from the Chayanda and Kovykta gas fields which are located in the depths of eastern Siberia. The ‘strength of Siberia’ pipeline that will bring the gas to China through Vladivostok will run 4,000km (2,500 miles) across swampy remote terrains.
Gazprom has been active in Asia after Russia was slapped with sanctions by the West over its alleged role in the Ukraine crisis.
The Russian economy has been hit hard, including a slide in national currency over plunging oil prices and turmoil in Ukraine.
Russia has sparked a wave of criticism after it incorporated Crimea into its territory following a referendum on the peninsula with a large ethnic Russian population. The US and the EU imposed a raft of sanctions on Russian officials and individuals with close ties to the Kremlin. The US also put space and military cooperation on hold, followed by some of its NATO allies, including the UK.
Sources: http://www.gazprom.com
Author: Mikhail Vesely
