OREANDA-NEWS. March 07, 2012. Gazprom Neft’s Internal Audit Department report was reviewed by the Board of Directors at their meeting today. In 2011, the Internal Audit Department conducted a number of business process efficiency evaluations and also assessed Gazprom Neft performance and that of its subsidiaries.The main focus of the Department last year was to ensure that business processes were operating efficiently on new assets and the development of an internal control system in line with overall corporate governance principles and practices.As a result of the assessment, a more effective system for procurement on new projects has been introduced.

In 2011, the Department continued to cooperateproactivelywith JSC  Gazprom and internal audit divisions of subsidiaries and dependent companies in order to improve internal auditing methodology.In addition, further work was undertaken to implement and monitor Gazprom Neft’s integrated risk management system. In March 2011, Ernst & Young concluded that the Company’s risk management system was fully compliant with international Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) system design practices.

The Board of Directors also reviewed progress made in expanding Gazprom Neft’s sales network. Between 2007-2011, the Company’s geographical retail presence grew from 14 to 27 regions throughout Russia. The number of petrol stations in Russia and the CIS increased from 754 to 1260, during this period all stations were brought under the Gazpromneft retail brand. Retail sales through Gazpromneft’s petrol stations went up by a factor of 2.5 to 5.6 million tonnes. This was achieved through increasing the number of stations and growing average sales per station from 3,000 to 5,000 tonnes per year.

One of the priorities of the retail expansion programme is to increase sales of gas fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG). In 2007, the Company’s gas fuel business comprised of44 gas stations, by 2011 this number had grown threefold to 131 with sales increasing by 4.5-fold. By 2020, the Company plans to increase the number of multi-fuel stations and to triple LPG sales.As for CNG, its cost-effectiveness and environmental characteristics willlead to increased consumption of this fuel inpublic and commercial transport.