The world’s largest listed oil company by output has spent the past four months trumpeting agreements to buy oil from Egypt, Libya and Iraqi Kurdistan, drilling exploration wells in southern Iraq and considering opportunities in Lebanon, as it chases deals to fuel its fledgling international expansion.

Although Turkey has a lack of energy reserves itself, it is a good transit state and can bring benefit to both itself and the EU through the use of alternative pipelines in different regions. Like Russia, Turkey has both problematic and good relations with the European Union, but unlike Russia it wants to be the part of Euro-Atlantic Security Community.

Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS), Japan's JERA and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) [SASACY.UL] - whose joint liquefied natural gas volumes account for a third of global LNG trade - are attempting to cement a shift in power from producers to importers amid a supply glut that is expected to persist into the early-2020s.

A government panel said in a report in April 2015 that Hazira LNG will look to expand the capacity of its LNG terminal in the western state of Gujarat by 50% to 7.5 MMtpy in the fiscal year to March 2017.

U.S. Rig Count is up 374 rigs from last year's count of 450, with oil rigs up 300, gas rigs up 72, and miscellaneous rigs up 2. Canadian Rig Count is up 106 rigs from last year's count of 49, with oil rigs up 44, gas rigs up 62, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged.

Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil, were at $52.70 per barrel at 0513 GMT, down 26 cents from their last close. In the United States, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were down 18 cents at $50.17 a barrel.

"This is a big event," Putin said. "If we keep moving at this pace, which I must say is rather impressive even to me...then Russia not only can but will become the largest LNG producer in the world."

Natural gas futures for April delivery traded down by about 1% in advance of the EIA's report, at around $3.20 per million BTUs, and traded at $3.19 shortly after the data release. Natural gas closed at $3.23 per million BTUs on Wednesday, the highest closing price in the past week. The 52-week range for natural gas is $2.56 to $3.65. One year ago the price for a million BTUs was around $2.63.

The project has significant public importance, as it will give an impetus to economic and social development in the Russian Arctic. The Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area is home to some of Gazprom’s key fields, which are expected to provide the bulk of Russia’s natural gas in the long term. To ensure efficient field development, the transport infrastructure should be expanded accordingly.

Russian state gas exporter Gazprom, which supplies around a third of the EU's gas, with much coming via Ukraine, is keen for Nord Stream 2 to be built by 2019, when it must renegotiate gas transit fees with Kiev.