MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/. Russia’s State Duma (lower house of parliament) has passed the bill permitting foreign deliveries of liquified natural gas (LNG) without the resources being pegged to specific fields in the second and third readings. The law "On Gas Export" has been amended.
The rationale for the bill is to enable companies implementing LNG projects with a capacity of over 20 tons per hour to be listed among entities that are allowed to export LNG, if more than 50% of their equity is owned by persons or entities entitled to directly or indirectly manage more than half of an ownership stake in companies that are entitled to export LNG (which holds a license allowing for the construction of an LNG plant or for directing subsoil resources for gas liquefaction from a number of federal blocks).
In July, a group of Duma deputies submitted draft amendments to the law on gas exports that, if enacted, would permit supplying LNG to foreign buyers without the need to peg the gas to specific fields. Leonid Mikhelson, CEO of Novatek, Russia’s second-largest gas company, had earlier suggested making such legislative amendments, which are necessary, in particular, for the Murmansk LNG project.
Under the draft federal legislation, it would be possible to export LNG from projects without making specific reference to federally significant subsoil areas with licenses permitting the use of natural gas extracted for LNG production, as well as potential export of LNG to legal entities within a single corporate group with entities that are already licensed to export LNG.