LNG: Qatar’s Russian Strategy – Compete Or Collaborate?

15 Feb 2013 Issue: 56 / 7

With Qatar facing growing competition in the global LNG market, the 10 February inauguration of Russian rival Gazprom’s representative office in Doha has prompted debate over the strategy behind the move.

Russia already competes with Qatar, the world’s largest exporter, by selling LNG into the Asia-Pacific market and plans to boost output, joining planned Australian and North American LNG projects targeting the region. Russia’s 10mn tons/year Sakhalin-2 LNG plant in the country’s Pacific Far East, in 2011 exported 14.4bcm to Asia-Pacific – 9.8bcm to Japan and 3.9bcm to South Korea.

State-owned Gazprom signed a preliminary deal in September 2012 with the Japanese government, which will help fund a planned $13bn 10mn t/y LNG export terminal in Vladivostok – like Sakhalin only 3 days’ shipping to Tokyo, compared to almost 3 weeks’ from Qatar. This is scheduled for first phase completion by 2017-20. Gazprom may subsequently increase its capacity to 25mn t/y, but has not provided a specific timetable (MEES, 21 September 2012). (CONTINUED - 981 WORDS)