Moscow-based OAO Gazprom wants to begin producing LNG to enter new markets, such as the US and Asia. Last year, it bought a controlling stake in Russia’s first LNG project from Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. LNG is natural gas cooled to a liquid state for transportation by tanker.  „We have gas supplies from third parties like BP and we are looking for similar agreements,” Vitaly Vasiliev, the CEO of Gazprom’s UK-based marketing unit, Gazprom Marketing & Trading, said in an interview today at the company’s headquarters in London. „We are actively looking at gaining access to capacity at terminals in the US and Europe.”

BP Plc and Gazprom Marketing said in September they had reached an agreement for BP to supply a number of LNG cargoes Gazprom would sell in the Atlantic basin. Gazprom already supplies LNG to Korea, India, Japan the US, Mexico and the UK BP has stakes in LNG production and export projects in Abu Dhabi, Australia, Indonesia and Trinidad. It ships LNG worldwide from other plants in countries such as Egypt and Qatar. It also has berthing rights at import terminals in Cove Point, Maryland, and the Isle of Grain in southeastern England.

 
Gazprom has said previously it also considering projects to build LNG plants in western Russia, near the Barents Sea, near the Baltic Sea and on the Yamal Peninsula. In an effort to improve its image as a reliable energy supplier, Gazprom is trying to secure gas supplies closer to its customers, Vasilev said. The Russian company is doing this by signing agreements with other gas suppliers. It is also trying to invest in gas-storage projects in Europe continent.  „Storage for us is an important instrument, to ensure if there is an interruption of gas supplies from Russia we can secure the backup from storage,” Vasilev said. „It is necessary to hold storage where your customers are.” It takes 11 days for gas from Siberia to reach the UK through pipelines over a distance of 7,000 kilometers (4,200 miles), Vasiliev said.

This year, Gazprom will sell 8 billion cubic meters to its European customers. About 60% this gas comes from its own fields in Russia, the rest from the North Sea through supply agreements it has with companies such as Norway’s Norsk Hydro ASA and Denmark’s Dong Energy A/S. Last year, it sold about 4 billion cubic meters of gas to the UK. Gazprom supplies just under 1% of UK’s industrial and commercial customers. They include the football club Sunderland FC and restaurant chains like Café Uno, Chez Gerard and the Deep Blue Fish and Chip shop, a local eatery near the company’s London office. Gazprom would like to secure about 5 to 10% of the UK market, Vasiliev said. It has no plans to supply UK households. (Bloomberg)