Russia aims to more than double its LNG presence on global market within 5 years

New megaprojects may allow Russia to grab up to 15 percent of the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market by 2025, according to Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak.

Russia has managed to more than quadruple its LNG exports since 2009, Novak said in an article for the Energy Policy journal issued by the ministry on Thursday. This was made possible thanks to the launching of new facilities, while several more initiatives are currently being developed to further increase shipments.

Last year, the share of Russian LNG on the global market stood at around seven percent, according to Leonid Mikhelson, founder of the country’s largest independent natural gas producer Novatek. The country also boosted LNG production by almost 50 percent to 40.2 billion cubic meters in 2019, the energy minister said previously.

The country’s first liquefied natural gas plant, Sakhalin-2, was launched in 2009. Another key facility, the Yamal LNG Arctic project, reached full capacity with its three trains around two years ago. The plant’s operator, Novatek, is currently building a fourth liquefaction train at the site to further increase capacity. In April 2019, the Cryogas-Vysotsk LNG project, the first medium-scale project of its kind in the Baltic region, commenced full-scale production.

The Russian government has been aiming to significantly boost LNG shipments, as demand is expected to rise significantly in the near future. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he expected domestic LNG output to grow nearly five-fold by 2035

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