Today at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Kurt Bock, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE, Klaus Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management, E.ON SE, Pierre Chareyre, Executive vice-president of ENGIE, Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Executive Board of OMV and Ben van Beurden, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell signed a Shareholders’ Agreement on implementation of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project to enhance supply of natural gas to the European Union’s market. The project will be developed by the new project company New European Pipeline AG. According to the document, Gazprom will own a 51 per cent share in the project company. E.ON, Shell, OMV and BASF/Wintershall will each own ten per cent and ENGIE will hold nine per cent.

The Nord Stream 2 project envisages the construction of two offshore pipelines with the aggregate annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas to be constructed from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea. The project will build on the positive experience of Nord Stream in implementing safe and reliable infrastructure.

“Nord Stream 2 will double the throughput of our direct, state-of-the-art gas supply route via the Baltic Sea. It is important that those are mostly the new gas volumes, which will be sought for in Europe due to the continuous decline in its domestic production.

The fact that the global energy majors participate in the project bespeaks its significance for securing reliable gas supply to European consumers,” said Alexey Miller.

“For more than 20 years, BASF has been participating in the construction of pipelines to ensure secure supplies of Russian gas to Europe. We want to bring our expertise to the expansion of Nord Stream and look forward to working with Gazprom and the other partners on this important infrastructure project,” said Kurt Bock.

“With the expansion of Nord Stream we will further secure reliable natural gas supplies for Germany and the EU in the long-term. This project will strengthen our more than 40-year-lasting successful partnership with Gazprom,” said Klaus Schäfer.

“Following the success of Nord Stream 1, ENGIE is very pleased with this commitment to be part of the Nord Stream 2 project. As a key player in European natural gas, ENGIE has always supported new gas infrastructures, which enable diversification and better security of supply for the European market. Gas will remain a key resource within the energy transition in Europe and a strong component of ENGIE’s strategy,” said Pierre Chareyre.

“Nord Stream 2 is a pipeline project directly connecting gas production from Russia with Western European gas markets, thus showing the highest transport security for the customers. With this additional import capacity we can further strengthen the gas hub in Central Europe.” said Rainer Seele.

“Natural gas will be a crucial part of the energy mix in Europe for a long time. New projects like Nord Stream 2 are needed to ensure that Europe’s demand for energy is met, especially as gas production in Europe itself is falling,” said Ben van Beurden.

Information Directorate, PAO Gazprom

AND

BASF and Gazprom agree to complete asset swap
•BASF subsidiary Wintershall to focus on oil and gas exploration and production and exit gas trading business
•Completion of transaction expected by the end of 2015

Ludwigshafen, Germany and Moscow, Russia – September 4, 2015 – BASF and Gazprom have agreed to complete the swap of assets with equivalent value signed in December 2013 and originally intended to be completed by the end of 2014. With the swap, BASF will further expand its production of oil and gas and will exit the gas trading and storage business. The completion of the asset swap is expected by the end of 2015 and, as agreed upon in December 2013, will be financially retroactive to April 1, 2013. The swap was already approved by the European Commission at the beginning of December 2013.

Through the transaction, Wintershall, a 100% subsidiary of BASF, receives the economic equivalent of 25% plus one share of the blocks IV and V in the Achimov formation of the Urengoy natural gas and condensate field in western Siberia. The two blocks will be jointly developed by Gazprom and Wintershall. According to the development plan confirmed by the Russian mining authority, blocks IV and V have total hydrocarbon resources of 274 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 74 million metric tons of condensate. This is equivalent to a total of 2.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe). An annual plateau production of at least 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas is expected from the two blocks. Production is planned to start in 2018.

In return, Wintershall will transfer its share in the currently jointly operated natural gas trading and storage business to its long-term partner Gazprom. This includes the 50% participation in the gas trading companies WINGAS, WIEH (Wintershall Erdgas Handelshaus Berlin) and WIEE (Wintershall Erdgas Handelshaus Zug) including shares in astora, which operates the natural gas storage facilities in Rehden and Jemgum, Germany, as well as a share in the natural gas storage in Haidach, Austria. Gazprom will also receive a 50% share in the activities of Wintershall Noordzee B.V., which is active in the exploration and production of oil and gas in the southern North Sea (Netherlands, UK and Denmark). Together these activities contributed about €12.2 billion to sales and around €260 million to EBITDA of BASF Group in 2014 and about €7.2 billion to sales and around €240 million to EBITDA of BASF Group in the first half of 2015. The partnership in the area of gas transportation activities will continue.

“In Oil & Gas, we are continuing our strategy of focusing on profitable growth at the source in our targeted oil and gas-rich regions,” said Dr. Kurt Bock, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE. “We look forward to further expanding the joint production of natural gas and condensate with our partner Gazprom in western Siberia.”

“This year marks the 25th anniversary of our successful partnership. Today’s signing represents a further milestone in this cooperation and will open new possibilities for our companies to implement important projects,” said Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee.