A consortium of companies from Japan and India are debating the potential investment in Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) project Yamal LNG. Japanese companies Mitsui and Mitsubishi Corp., and India’s ONGC Videsh, Indian Oil Corp. and Petronet LNG may take a joint hold of nearly 10% in the project, which is controlled by Russian player Novatak (60%), French company Total (20%) and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) (20%).
The Yamal LNG project, which anticipates 16.5 million tpa production of LNG by 2018, has revealed that a 10% stake is open for companies to invest in. Russia will benefit from wider contact with Asian markets as it seeks to liberalise exports of natural gas and double its 5% stake in global LNG by 2020. This also comes at a time when Russia is seeking to direct exports towards Asian markets away from those of Europe where demand is lethargic.
Mitsui, Mitsubishi and Novatek did not comment.
Edited from various sources by Ted Monroe