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Gas production in Arctic to grow to 250 billion cubic meters by 2020 - Yazev.

“I believe that we shall be producing 70-90 billion cubic meters of gas a year,” he said

MURMANSK, October 27 (Itar-Tass) —— Natural gas production in the Arctic may grow to 250 billion cubic meters by 2020, the president of the Russian Gas Society, State Duma Deputy Speaker Valery Yazev, said on Thursday. Yazev was speaking on the sidelines of the Russia-German raw materials forum, of which he is a co-chairman.

“Apart from the Yamal Peninsula, where experimental commercial production is underway, we produce virtually nothing in the Arctic seas,” Yazev said in reply to a question from Itar-Tass. He believes that the first major gas deposit to be developed will be Shtokman, estimated at 3.9 trillion cubic meters. Its development is scheduled for 2016.

“I believe that we shall be producing 70-90 billion cubic meters of gas a year,” he said.

“As for the prospects till 2020, I believe that we shall be extracting around 250 billion cubic meters of gas off shore in the Arctic,” Yazev believes.

As he addressed the forum with a message of greeting, he said that “the Arctic’s contribution to providing mineral resources for the Russian economy is unique: rare earth and rare metals – nearly 100 percent, apatite, vermiculite, barite, antimony - almost 100 percent, and natural gas - 95 percent."

For his part the executive director of the Eastern Committee of the German Economy, Reiner Linder, said that “the import of gas from Russia will grow by approximately 30 percent.”

He also quoted some experts as saying 230-240 billion euros would be spent on the import of energy raw materials.

“This is a tremendous sum,” he said.