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Russian energy strategy should be designed for decades to come — Putin

"The demand for natural gas will continue increasing at a higher pace - above 1% per year," the Russian President noted

NOVO-OGAREVO, October 6. /TASS/. The national energy strategy should be designed for decades to come, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday at the meeting on energy sector development matters.

"Our decisions on development of the Russian fuel and energy sector must be balanced, address national interests and, most importantly, needs of our citizens, and they certainly must focus on long-term prospects," the head of state said.

"It is necessary to attempt to look behind the horizon of not one but even two-three decades," he noted.

Putin highlighted forecasts of specialists for the energy market situation. "According to estimates of international experts, including OPEC, oil demand growth rates will start slowing down since 2035 but consumption will grow by about 0.7% annually until 2045 in general," the head of state said. "The demand for natural gas will continue increasing at a higher pace - above 1% per year," Putin said. "Primarily this is because gas will start substituting coal in the global energy balance as a more pure kind of fuel," he noted.

"International export believe the coal demand, particularly in Southeast Asian nations, will slightly grow over the next five years and then, as they consider, it will stabilize for 10-15 years and this demand will start going down then," Putin added.