Putin asks for Murmansk LNG project to be added to strategy, liberalization of LNG exports to be accelerated

MOSCOW. Oct 9 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked for the Mumansk LNG project to be included in the sector's strategic documents and for the liberalization of liquefied gas exports to be accelerated, Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov said at a meeting of the State Duma's Energy Committee.

The bill was introduced in July by a group of deputies following a trip by members of parliament to Murmansk. It provides for the admission to LNG export of projects without reference to a specific field without expanding the parties involved in the exports - there are currently three of them, Gazprom , Rosneft and Novatek . The Murmansk LNG project could be granted admission to exports this way.

"The Energy Ministry and the government support the bill. We believe that Murmansk LNG is a strategic project. It was discussed at a meeting with the president twice. We have an instruction to include it in the strategy - this will be a strategic project. There is an instruction from the president to speed up the discussion of the federal law," Shulginov said.

First Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin said the bill provided a balanced response to possible risks: "It is a balanced law. It does not let any legal entities through the filter, because it grants this right only to those licensed to export LNG. The second level of protection is a strategic document, which is what this bill should be, which means that projects that will create some kind of risk will not be able to pass through."

"We currently do not see any risk of rivalry between LNG and pipeline gas," Shulginov said.

Duma Energy Committee Chairman Pavel Zavalny said regarding the bill on liberalizing LNG exports that a deadline of November 1 had been given - this means that the State Duma has until the end of October to debate it. The committee will continue discussing the document on October 17.

Zavalny said the government in its conclusion generally supported the bill, providing three significant comments that were included in the committee's draft conclusion.

Novatek presented the Murmansk LNG project this summer. Its advantages, according to the authors of the project, include an ice-free port and the availability of cheap electricity from the Kola Nuclear Power Plant. The company plans to use compressors with electric drives to produce liquefied natural gas. The plant is expected to use Novatek's Arctic Mix technology, with which it is possible to build liquefaction trains with capacity of up to 7 million tonnes of LNG per year.nce to a specific field without expanding the parties involved in the exports. The Murmnsk LNG project could be granted admission to exports this way.