Gazprom warned of the risk of gas shortage due to uncontrolled exports

There may be a gas shortage on the Russian market if a bill is passed allowing the export of LNG without reference to specific fields. This was stated by the deputy head of the department – head of the Gazprom department, Kiril Polous.

In his opinion, the rule will allow individual companies to use not only their own fields approved by the state for LNG export, but absolutely any resource base for these purposes. “In essence, individual subsoil users will have the opportunity to maximize gas exports in the form of LNG to the detriment of supplies to the domestic market, and also act as intermediaries in the sale of gas for export to other companies,” he clarified at a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Energy (quote via Interfax).

In the summer, State Duma deputies introduced a bill allowing foreign supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) without reference to specific fields. In particular, export access to the Murmansk LNG project can be formalized in this way.

Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov at a meeting in the Duma statedthat Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to accelerate the liberalization of LNG exports and include the Murmansk LNG project in the strategic documents of the industry.

According to the current legislation, the right to export LNG, in particular, belongs to “Gazprom” and its subsidiaries. In June, Chairman of the Board and co-owner of Novatek Leonid Mikhelson toldthat the company plans to use its own resource base for a new LNG production project with a capacity of 20.4 million tons per year in the Murmansk region and does not intend to purchase gas for liquefaction from Gazprom.

Mikhelson before also notedWhat “Gazprom export” with which “Novatek“works under an agency agreement, “there are problems with payment for LNG supplies, which subsequently becomes our problem.”