RUSSIA NEEDS LNG

Sakhalin region Governor Alexander Khoroshavin believes that Russia should act quickly if it aims to bank in on the current LNG market opportunities and strengthen its position as one of the key LNG suppliers.

"We need to act most seriously and provide maximum cooperation in execution of LNG plant construction projects since we don't have so much time left to get things going," said Khoroshavin as he wrapped up his speech at the 21st World Petroleum Congress in Moscow Tuesday.

Russia's major competitors in the LNG market, the governor added, include Australia and Middle Eastern countries.

"They are actively involved in the LNG market, they build new liquefaction plants. According to our estimates, this market niche will remain open to Russia by 2020. After that our competitors will shut it. If we don't do everything we can by 2020 to resolve the issue of construction of new LNG plants and capture this niche, we might face difficulties," he added.

Russia's only LNG-producing project (Sakhalin-2, with Sakhalin Energy as operator and Gazprom, Shell, Mitsui and Mitsubishi as stakeholders) is carried out in the Sakhalin region. Taxes paid by oil and gas companies operating locally account for about 80 percent of regional budget receipts. 

oilandgaseurasia.com