OREANDA-NEWS. October 22, 2009. Delegation of Gazprom VNIIGAZ LLC completed its work at the XXIV International gas congress. The visit schedule of our specialists was very busy and included not only presentations, but also business meetings within the scope of the plenary sessions.

At the beginning of the Congress our colleagues reviewed IGU Program and key forum papers, including IGU Natural Gas Industry Outlook to 2030, which is co-authored by R.O. Samsonov, the General Director of Gazprom VNIIGAZ LLC.

XXIV WGC opening ceremony took place at the Luna Park Stadium on 5 October. The participants were welcomed by IGU President Ernesto Lopez Anadon and other official representatives. The speeches were followed by an engaging show.

IGU Council meeting session attended by the head of our delegation R.O. Samsonov was held on the same day. Several key decisions were discussed and made during this session. The participants selected IGU President and Executive Committee for 2009-2012, presented a triennial work program, made several strategic statements for IGU work in 2009 and suggestions to modify IGU structure.

Presentation by A.B. Miller, Chairman of Gazprom’s Management Committee, and Strategic Panel 1 with presentation by R.O. Samsonov were the key events of the working day on 6 October. Mr. Samsonov reported on development prospects of the Russian mineral resource base, current and strategic mega-projects of Gazprom paying special attention to possible types of sci-tech international cooperation and development of new technologies.

The very same day our delegation made two poster presentations “Prospecting of oil and gas fields by adsorbed gases onshore and in water areas” and “Replacement of mineral resource base - the target challenge for mature and emerging regional gas markets of Eurasia”. At the Expert Forum of PC A the Chief Research Associate V.N. Bashkin took the floor with the presentation “Geoecological risk management for stable development of gas industry”, while at the WC 2 session G.N. Ruban, Director of the Centre “Underground Gas Storage”, made a report on “Temporary underground associated gas storages in porous formations - promising trend for solving the problem of its utilization”.

In the evening the whole delegation of Gazprom VNIIGAZ LLC attended the official reception by A.B. Miller, Chairman of Gazprom’s Management Committee. The reception took place at the national museum of decorative arts of Argentina.

On 7 October R.O. Samsonov delivered the report “Development of Yamal peninsula inland and offshore fields” at the Session of WC 1 “Remaining conventional world gas resources & technological challenges for their development, and the report “Implementation of the Shtokman project – start of hydrocarbon resources development on the Arctic shelf of Russia” at the Expert Forum.

A.S. Kazak, Deputy General Director of Gazprom VNIIGAZ LLC, made a presentation “Methodical approaches to drawing up strategy of gas industry integrated development in Latin America” at the Expert Forum of PC C “Developing natural gas markets: how issues including security of supply, alternative fuels, pricing & technological improvements interact for a sustainable development”.

Members of the delegation of Gazprom VNIIGAZ LLC participated in business meetings with colleagues and partners from CERA, Petrobras, PERUPERTO and National Iranian Gas Company.

8 October was the most busy day for our delegates. G.S. Akopova, the Head of the Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resource Saving, delivered a report “Environmental safety aspects of underground gas storage” and G.N. Ruban made a presentation “Storing industrial gaseous emissions in geological formations” within the work program of WC2 Expert Forum.

The Chief Research Associate, Doctor of Technical Sciences and Professor V.V. Kharionovskiy reported on “Stress-corrosion in trunk pipelines: current status and safe operation forecast” within the scope of WC3.

At the Expert Forum of WC4 the Senior Research Associate N.Yu. Kruglova presented the report “Evaluation of methane emissions on Gazprom’s high pressure gas-distribution networks”. This presentation aroused big interest of the experts, who attended this forum.

At the final WGC working day our delegation attended the Strategic Panel 5 with A.I. Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Gazprom's Management Committee, who made a presentation and answered the questions.

During the last triennium WC1 of IGU (“Exploration and production of natural gas”) was headed by our colleague V.S. Yakushev, who is the Deputy Director of Gazprom VNIIGAZ Centre “Gas Resources”, while Chief Research Associate of the Laboratory of Geocryology and Hydrates S.A. Leonov was the Academic Secretary of the Committee. V.S. Yakushev and S.A. Leonov were awarded honorary diploma for their excellent work results and due to expiry of their powers.

The closing ceremony of XXIV WGC was held on 9 October. IGU President 2006-2009 Ernesto Lopez Anadon made an official report followed by handover of presidency for the next triennium to Datuk Abdul Rahim Hashim (Malaysia). Rahim Hashim reported on the main business lines of IGU in 2009-2012. Then XXIV WGC participants saw the film-presentation about Kuala Lumpur – the capital of XXV WGC (The Congress will be held in June 2012).