OREANDA-NEWS. November 23, 2007. TNK-BP started signing long-term (three-year) contracts for supply of gas to customers, said Alexander Berezikov, Vice President BP for Marketing, Supply, Trading and Transport of Gas and Condensate, TNK-BP Management, at the forum “Russian Gas” organized by the Russian Gas Society.

The volume of gas supplies under such contracts in 2008–2010 will amount to about 300 million cubic meters, which is approximately 20% of the company’s sales portfolio.

Conclusion of long-term contracts with customers of TNK-BP requires guarantees of gas transportation by Gazprom, but, according to Mr. Berezikov, Gazprom provided these guarantees for the required volumes of gas (produced by Rospan and TNK-BP subsidiaries in Nyagan). He noted that prices in contracts are not fixed and are subject to negotiations every year. Currently, TNK-BP is selling gas at a price 30% higher that the gas price regulated by the Federal Tariff Service. Mr. Berezikov said that power generating enterprises (first of all TGK-9) and construction enterprises (such as Eurocement) are among the main consumers of gas supplied by the company.

Mr. Berezikov noted in his speech at the forum that TNK-BP is interested in cooperation with Tomsktransgaz, a subsidiary of Gazprom, in increasing the throughput capacity of the Parabel–Kuzbass trunk gas pipeline. TNK-BP needs more technical and economic information on the possibility of gas transit from Nizhnevartovsk for making a decision on expansion of the Nizhnevartovsk Gas Processing Plant.

Mr. Berezikov reminded that approximately 18 billion cubic meters of associated petroleum gas is being burnt in this region annually, and TNK-BP is ready to solve this problem.

According to him, the company is willing to participate as a partner in the dialog on development of gas transportation capacities in accordance with the “Regulation for Participation of Independent Producers in Reconstruction and Expansion of the Gas Transportation System.”

Valery Golubev, Deputy Chairman of Gazprom’s Management Committee, told to the forum about the efforts of Gazprom for signing long-term gas supply contracts. According to him, Gazprom has already signed 120,000 contracts of the total of 142,000 contracts being prepared for signing. Gazprom is signing long-term “take-or-pay” contracts for five years.