Gazprom Develops New Discoveries

Gazprom fully replaced production with new discoveries in 2006, adding some 582 billion cubic meters of gas to its reserves equal to one-fifth of global consumption.

The head of Gazprom's gas production department said that reserves replacement was 105 percent of Gazprom's 2006 gas output of 552 bcm, implying a net addition of 30 bcm.

The addition enough to meet the European Union's total needs for more than a year may help the firm soothe criticism that it is not investing enough to meet demand.

Gazprom has been striving to shore up its reserves for over a decade and managed to fully replace output only in 2005, when it added 583 bcm to its reserves. Gazprom, with reserves of over 1,000 trillion cubic feet of gas, already controls a quarter of the world's reserves, The Moscow Times reported.