Gazprom, Mitsui Discuss LNG Cooperation

Japanese trading house and liquefied natural gas market participant Mitsui has held talks with Russia’s giant Gazprom on cooperation in liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects.

A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Masami Iijima, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mitsui & Co., Ltd., took place in Moscow.

They discussed about the progress made in two Russian plans to expand LNG output, on the existing Sakhalin Island plant in the Far East and at a planned facility west of Saint Petersburg.

"The parties discussed current issues related to bilateral collaboration, including the Sakhalin II project," said a press release.

Alexey Miller and Masami Iijima also considered the avenues for further cooperation, paying particular attention to the Baltic LNG project, it said.

A joint design concept (pre-FEED) is currently being developed for the project.

Gazprom and Mitsui are partners in the Sakhalin II project, which includes Russia's first LNG plant. The Sakhalin II operator is Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd.

In December 2016, Gazprom and Mitsui signed the Agreement of Strategic Cooperation. The document envisages collaboration in various areas, including Sakhalin II project expansion and LNG bunkering.

In September 2017, Gazprom and Mitsui inked the Framework Agreement for cooperation on small- and mid-scale LNG.

In September 2018, Gazprom and Mitsui signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the Baltic LNG project.