Rotterdam(Netherlands) hosted the eleventh meeting of the International Supervisory Board of the Energy Delta Institute.

Participating in the meeting were Sergey Khomyakov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors, Gazprom; Eric Dam, Member of the Executive Board, Gasunie; Gertjan Lankhorst, CEO, GasTerra; Pieter Dekker, Vice President, Shell Energy Europe; Sibrand Poppema, President, the University of Groningen; Marcel Kramer, CEO, South Stream.

During the meeting the activities of the Energy Delta Institute in 2010–2011 were discussed. Appreciation was expressed for the quality of the training in the professional development programs, with a number of promising Gazprom leaders having obtained a Master in the Control of the Gas Business qualification.

It was noted that from January 2005 to September 2011 the Institute seminars had over 400 staff members of Gazprom as students. For them, the workshops covered: “International Gas Value Chain”, “New Developments in LNG”, “Strategies for Natural Gas”, “Natural Gas Strategy”, “Large Gas Project”, “Underground Gas Storage”, “The Strategic Use of Information Technology in the Gas Industry”, etc.

The meeting also discussed plans for the 2012 curriculum and also discussed prospects for further development between the Energy Delta Institute and the University of Groningen for the long term.

Following the meeting all parties agreed that the development of the existing educational programs at the Institute and the creation of new ones, in particular, the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program in the energy sector would contribute to the effective implementation of strategically important infrastructure projects.

“We're all going through a transitional period in the development of the European energy sector, ideas about the structure of the fuel and energy balance are changing and the traditional system of energy supply evolves. In this situation, the presence of the positive experience at the Energy Delta Institute in implementing educational programs allows managers to develop the new generation of practical skills demanded by the modern energy business,” said Sergey Khomyakov.

“As a European gas infrastructure company striving to provide stable and secure energy supply to its customers we must ensure the seamless operation of all the elements of the infrastructure. Therefore we feel responsible for placing appropriately trained specialists to work at every link of energy supply chain. Together with other partners we established EDI almost a decade ago. We have always been and remain highly committed to contribute to enhancing the quality of EDI programs and services in order to develop the top class energy specialists, a crucially important element of energy infrastructures. In EDI the role of Gazprom as one of the main suppliers of gas to Europe is seen as vitally significant. By exchanging knowledge EDI can provide in depth programs concerning the role of gas for the whole Europe,” said Eric Dam.

Background

In 2001 Gazprom and Gasunie put forward the initiative of launching a joint project to exchange the knowledge and experience in the energy sector. The initiative was supported by the Russian and Dutch Governments. The project was given the working title of “Gas University”. Subsequently, the University of Groningen joined the project and set up the Energy Delta Institute in cooperation with Gasunie, GasTerra, Shell and other companies.

Since September 2002 experts from Gazprom, Gasunie, Shell and other companies have taken regular training courses at the Meerwold Training Center in the Netherlands within the programs related to strategic development, market relations and economic aspects of the gas industry.