Indian Oil and gas news June 21, 2017 Alexey Miller and Serzh Sargsyan express appreciation for robust use of natural gas in Armenia New Delhi New Delhi, Jun. 21 -- Yerevan on 16 June 2017, hosted working meetings of Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan. The meetings addressed the development of Armenia's gas industry. Specifically, the meeting participants noted a high level of gas penetration in the country, amounting to 96 per cent. They also expressed their appreciation for a robust use of natural gas in different economic sectors, including transportation. At present, around 80 per cent of vehicles in the country run on natural gas. Russian gas exports to Armenia stand at some 1.9 billion cubic metres per year. Armenia's gas consumption is growing this year, with gas supplies from Russia already exceeding 1 billion cubic metres over the first five and a half months of 2017 (+35 per cent compared to 2016). The meeting also touched upon the issues regarding Armenia's gas supply network development and gas grid expansion, focusing, inter alia, on the General Scheme prepared by Gazprom. The parties discussed the prospects for the construction of a new compressor station at the Abovyanskoye underground gas storage facility and gas trunklines inside the country, as well as for the overhaul of Armenia's existing gas transmission and distribution infrastructure. Background Gazprom Armenia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gazprom, is focused on natural gas supplies to the Armenian market. In addition, the company transports, stores, distributes and sells natural gas, as well as upgrades and expands the gas transmission system and underground gas storage facilities in the Republic of Armenia. In 2013, Gazprom and Gazprom Armenia signed the contract for up to 2.5 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to be supplied annually to Armenia in 2014-2018. On April 7, 2016, an addendum to the contract was signed. Gas is delivered to the Armenian border by Gazprom Export. The General Scheme of Gas Supply to and Gasification of the Armenian Republic provides for large-scale overhaul, upgrade and modernisation of the country's gas transmission infrastructure and underground gas storage capacities.