Gazprom 1980s, the Ministry of Gas Industry found large natural gas reserves in Siberia, the Ural region and the Volga region. The Soviet Union became a major gas producer. In August 1989, under the leadership of Viktor Chernomyrdin, the Ministry of Gas Industry was renamed the "State Gas Concern Gazprom", and became the Soviet Union's first state run corporate enterprise. In late 1991, when the Soviet Union dissolved, gas industry assets were transferred to newly established national companies, such as Ukrgazprom and Turkmengazprom. Gazprom kept assets located in Russia and secured a monopoly in the gas sector. In December 1992, when
Gazprom Jorma Ollila, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Royal Dutch Shell signed in the presence of Putin and Mark Rutte prime minister of Netherlands a memorandum outlining the principles of cooperation within hydrocarbons exploration and development in the Arctic shelf and a section of the deep-water shelf. In 2008, Gazprom carried out of explorative well drilling; of 2D seismic and of 3D seismic survey. As a result, gas reserves grew by , and crude oil and gas condensate reserves grew by 61 million tons. Gazprom carries out prospecting and exploration in foreign countries such as India, Algeria, Venezuela, Vietnam,