Russia to significantly boost LNG supplies to India

Moscow, Dec 17: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday, Dec 16 said that his country will significantly boost the supplies of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to energy hungry India beginning from 2016.

Addressing the CEOs forum of the top companies of the two countries, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that Indian companies were interested in oil and gas projects in Russia. India's gas consumption is projected to increase 70 per cent by 2020.

Mentioning the success of ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) venture in Sakhalin-1 offshore oil block, Medvedev also expressed Russia's interest in expanding cooperation with India in hydrocarbons, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told reporters.

OVL has 20 per cent stake in Sakhalin-1, which has estimated reserves of about 307 million tons of oil (2.3 billion barrels) and 485 billion cubic meters of gas (17 trillion cubic feet).

Medvedev said that Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom has inked the memoranda covering major supplies of LNG to India with several Indian companies. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller last month said the company would take India's growing demand for LNG into account in its plans to build export facilities under the Eastern Gas Programme.

According to earlier reports, OVL is in talks with Russia's largest independent gas producer Novatek to participate in the Yamal LNG project.

The project, being implemented by Novatek and France's Total, will produce liquefied natural gas on the Yamal Peninsula in the Russian Arctic at an estimated cost of $15-20 billion, local media reports said.

It will see development of the giant Yuzhno-Tambeiskoye gas condensate field and the construction of an LNG plant. Novatek also plans to build a sea port in the town of Sabetta in Yamal and will construct an ice-class tanker fleet.

PTI