Russia and Saudi Arabia looking to cooperate on LNG project

According to Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Aramco is 'seriously' studying an opportunity to invest in a future LNG plant in Russia's Arctic. His Russian counterpart Alexander Novak said the two countries have a list of 23 potential projects that they may look to pursue.

Furthermore, last year President Vladimir Putin recently made a point of making Russian LNG expansion a priority. As a result, the country is seeking new partners in projects to overtake the fuel's biggest producers (including Qatar and Australia).

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is looking from Russia to East Africa and the US for natural gas assets as state-owned Saudi Aramco searches for means to meet rising domestic demand.

In 2017, Russia Saudi Arabia an opportunity to join a planned LNG project in northern Siberia called Arctic LNG-2 – projected to start in 2022 or 2023 at a cost of approximately US$20 billion. As of yet no decisions on such a partnership have been made public. Moreover, Novak recently stated that Russian companies are also interested in building regasification terminals in Saudi Arabia, as the kingdom will need this infrastructure in order to import LNG, should it decide to do so.

Looking to the future, Saudi Arabia will reportedly attempt to double its own gas production over the next 10 years. While Al-Falih said that he did not rule out buying LNG from Russia, at present he did state that it was not the most economical option.

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/15022018/russia-and-saudi-arabia-looking-to-cooperate-on-lng-project/