Mon Jun 25, 2007 5:02 PM BST
MOSCOW, June 25 (Reuters) – Russian gas monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile , Research), which has yet to produce its own liquefied natural gas (LNG), has sold 10 cargoes of the fuel in natural gas swap deals since 2005, the firm said on Monday.
Gazprom’s Deputy Chief Executive Alexander Medvedev said LNG supplies equivalent to 0.9 billion cubic metres (bcm) in total went to the United States, Britain, South Korea, Japan, India and Mexico.
He said Gazprom planned to boost LNG trading in future.
“As price arbitrage is obviously going to grow with the globalisation of the LNG market, our company is ready to work in this market and become a serious player in LNG,” Medvedev told a briefing.
Gazprom, the world’s largest natural gas producer, plans to to launch its first LNG plant at the Sakhalin-2 project next year after buying control of the venture from Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L> last year.
The plant is expected to have capacity of 9.6 million tonnes of LNG per year — one of the world’s biggest — which may be increased in future.
Medvedev reiterated that the first LNG supplies from Sakhalin-2 — mainly to Japan, the United States and Korea — would start in 2008, as planned by Shell before the takeover.
Gazprom has at least two other potential LNG projects: Baltic LNG, a plant it is considering building together with PetroCanada (PCA.TO: Quote, Profile , Research) in the Leningrad region, and the huge but challenging Shtokman project in the Barents Sea.
Gazprom has repeatedly delayed the development of the vast field, now not expected to be launched before 2015. It has said it is likely to name foreign contractors for the field by the end of July.
Medvedev said that Gazprom was also considering participating in LNG projects abroad, but did not elaborate.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved
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