GAZPROM LNG TO EUROPE

Russia's state-owned Gazprom is planning to sell most of its Yamal LNG volumes in the Atlantic basin, including customers in Europe and South America, a company official said Thursday.

Gazprom signed a 20-year contract with Russian independent producer Novatek in late January to offtake 2.9 million mt/year of LNG from the Novatek-controlled Yamal LNG project in Russia's northern Yamal peninsula, which is due to start up in 2017.

Deliveries to Europe are expected to meet growing demand from the downstream transport and bunkering markets, said Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of Gazprom's Management Committee, in an interview with Platts.

"Europe will need more LNG to be used in transportation," Medvedev said. "There is already infrastructure prepared in Rotterdam for example. You could load trucks from the ship and deliver it to the location."

platts.com