MOSCOW, December 15. /TASS/. Natural gas supplies from Russia will remain competitive for 30-35 years, Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin said on Wednesday.

"We believe and we see that competitiveness of our gas is provided without problems for 30-35 years, because it is and will remain one of the cheapest and purest energy sources. It will remain competitive all over the forecast period in terms of cost and availability," the official said. The carbon footprint of Russian natural gas will be minimal when using carbon dioxide capture technologies, Sorokin added.

Russia is honoring all the gas supply commitments, the official said. The greater portion of supplies is under long-term contracts, he noted.

"Our companies meet all the requests made in accordance to contracts. This is the most interesting point. As it has already been mentioned, requests at a price of $1,600 per thousand cubic meters are not large in numbers. These are one-off, speculative deals made at the exchange," Sorokin added.