Russia Hikes Gas Targets for 2035
The Russian government approved a new energy strategy until 2035 that raises its targets for natural gas and LNG production, its energy ministry said in a statement on April 2.
Russia now plans to produce between 860bn and 1 trillion m3 of gas by 2035, up from a previous goal of 850-924bn m3, the ministry said. The country extracted around 738bn m3 of gas in 2019, up 1.7% yr/yr.
Moscow's production target for 2024 remains unchanged at 795-820bn m3.
Russia has also raised its goal for LNG production in 2035 to 80-140mn mt, from 70-82mn mt. Output totalled 29.5mn mt last year. The target for 2024 remains at 46-65mn mt.
Besides LNG, growth is expected to be support by increased gas exports to China via the 38bn m3/yr Power of Siberia gas pipeline. The pipeline's current source of gas is the Chayandinskoye field in Yakutia, due to ramp up to 25bn m3/yr by the early 2020s.
Gazprom plans to start construction this summer on Power of Siberia's section in the Irkutsk province, the regional government said in a statement on April 3, enabling it to flow gas from the Kovyktinskoye field as well. Some rubles 100bn ($1.3bn) will be invested in the project this year, it said.
Kovyktinskoye is due to start up in 2023 and also flow around 25bn m3/yr at peak capacity.