World’s First Gas Transmission Museum opens in Moscow

The opening ceremony of the multimedia scientific and educational Gas Transmission Museum took place today in Moscow.

The event was attended by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee, Vitaly Markelov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee, and Vyacheslav Mikhalenko, Member of the Management Committee, Head of Department of Gazprom, as well as by the Company’s employees and gas industry veterans.

The Museum was set up in the premises of Gazprom Transgaz Moscow, a subsidiary of Gazprom, at the building that used to house the Moscow district operation center of the first Russian long-distance gas pipeline, Saratov – Moscow, in the mid-20th century.

The Museum’s collection combines traditional museum pieces with advanced presentation technologies, such as multimedia displays and interactive installations.

The exhibition features original documents relevant to the creation of the national gas transmission system, historical photos and footage, authentic tools used by builders and gas workers, and genuine gas transmission equipment from the 1940s–50s, such as a Cooper-Bessemer gas engine-driven compressor.

The key exhibits are devoted to the veterans who contributed to the establishment and development of the national gas industry and to the gas workers of today. Visitors have a chance to learn about the personal and professional lives of those people and to listen to their interviews.

The Museum also contains interactive models of gas transmission facilities: a compressor station, a gas distribution station, and a gas metering station. Guests can take a virtual tour down a gas pipeline from a development well to end consumers thanks to a special animated model.

One can also feel the real scale of a 1,420-millimeter pipeline by walking through its life-size model. The multimedia terminals allow visitors to take a test and see what kind of gas jobs they are best suited for or to try their hand at managing a gas pipeline operation center.

With a wealth of exhibits, the Museum immerses its guests in the history of the Russian gas industry, providing accessible explanations of the origins and physical & chemical properties of natural gas, as well as gas transmission processes.

“Today, we open the first Gas Transmission Museum in the world. It is a modern, well-equipped and state-of-the-art industrial museum. It presents an opportunity to explore the inception and ongoing development of our country’s unique gas transmission system. I believe that the new museum will be fascinating to many people – gas workers and veterans, industry-relevant students, schoolchildren, and everyone who is intellectually curious and interested in the past and present of our country,” said Alexey Miller.