Russia to Liberalise LNG Exports from January 1

Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday that the country expects to liberalize its LNG exports from January 1, and a bill will be submitted to the parliament shortly.

“The work as of today has been finalised … It has been coordinated and agreed by all the ministries of the cabinets, and in the near future it is going to be submitted to the State Duma, the parliament of the Russian Federation,” Reuters cited Novak as saying.

“We expect the law to take effect since the first of January next year,” he added.

This bill would allow companies other than state giant Gazprom to export LNG.

Russia currently has one LNG export terminal located on the Sakhalin Island.

Sakhalin Energy, a joint venture between Gazprom, Shell, Mitsui and Mitsubishi and the operator of the LNG terminal, recently said that, since 1999, the company has shipped 680 LNG cargoes to its customers.

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LNG World News Staff, October 17, 2013; Image: Gazprom