Russia to Boost Oil, Gas Export to Asia-Pacific

Russia is aiming to increase oil and gas exports to Asia-Pacific region to counterbalance instability in Middle East supplies, an APEC expert said.

The proposed increase was expected to account for between 22 and 25 percent of Russia's total exports by 2020, Xinhua reported citing Russian APEC Study Center deputy director Gleb Ivashentsov.

Russia's contribution towards energy supplies in Asia Pacific would reduce the region's reliance on hydrocarbon imports from the unstable Middle East, he said.

But he said the problem with increased Russian exports of oil and gas to the Asia-Pacific market was that existing pipelines would carry supplies only to China and South Korea while the rest of Russian natural gas had to be transported by sea in the form of LNG, Xinhua reported.

Ivashentsov added that all the countries in the Asia-Pacific region would have similar concerns in energy security and, by 2020, more than half the world's energy demand would come from northeastern Asia.