FSUOGM: Russia eyes gas export liberalisation to bolster supplies to China

Russia is looking to liberalise natural gas exports to China in order to expand shipments faster and offset the loss of most of its European gas market share, an energy official said on April 25, according to Reuters.

Under current Russian legislation, only Gazprom is permitted to export gas via pipeline, as the government has traditionally feared that giving more Russian companies that right would result in Russian gas competing with Russian gas in foreign markets, driving down the price. For years, the country’s largest oil producer Rosneft has lobbied for liberalisation without success.

The situation now is very different, however. Gazprom has lost 80-85% of its pipeline gas market share in Europe over the past year. And efforts to expand the country’s LNG sector are undermined by Western sanctions, which prohibit companies from supplying equipment, technologies, financing and services to liquefaction projects.

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