OREANDA-NEWS. October 2, 2009. Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk today hosted the opening of the 13th Sakhalin Oil and Gas 2009 International Conference.

Led by Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, the Company’s delegation is taking part in the Conference. At the plenary meeting Alexander Medvedev delivered a speech dedicated to Gazprom Group’s strategy on the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market.

In his speech Alexander Medvedev emphasized the rapid pace of the global LNG market development. Since 2005 the market volume has grown by more than 20 per cent and averaged 240 billion cubic meters last year. Nowadays, the LNG share reached 29 per cent in the global gas trade. According to experts’ estimates, by 2020 the annual volume of LNG production will exceed 500 million tons, which is equal to some 700 billion cubic meters of gas.

The speaker underlined that in the coming years Russia would become one of the leading LNG producers accounting for up to 10 per cent of the global LNG supplies. Out of this amount 17 million tons will be produced by the current projects of Gazprom – Sakhalin II and the first phase of the Shtokman field development. Subsequently, this amount will be replenished through putting onstream the second and the third development phases of the Shtokman field, as well as other LNG projects.

Alexander Medvedev also stated that Gazprom was going to actively develop key segments of the LNG business across the entire value chain: production, sea-borne transportation, marketing and the access to the ultimate consumer.

Summing up his speech, Alexander Medvedev noted that Gazprom’s Strategy for Liquefied Natural Gas Production and Supply would enable the Company to transform itself from a regional player of LNG spot markets into a global player on the world LNG market.