Russian state-run oil company Rosneft (ROSN.RS) plans
to begin producing liquefied natural gas on the
island
of
Sakhalin
no later than 2018, President Igor Sechin said Thursday, Interfax reported.
"We expect to be able to offer our gas to the market no later than 2018. If
we do this later our opportunities will be significantly fewer," he was
quoted as saying.
He said Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and South Korean and Japanese companies would
join the project.
"We'll also be working with South Korean partners, Japanese companies that
are willing to be partners in this project and consumers [of LNG] have shown an
interest," he said.
Mr. Sechin also said that companies from
Japan
and
South Korea
have shown an interest in the new offshore Magadan-2 and Magadan-3
projects in the
Sea
of
Okhotsk
.
"Interest is being expressed on the part of Japanese and South Korean
companies," he said.
Rosneft also plans to adjust its schedule of modernizing oil refineries to
better consolidate assets it acquired when it bought TNK-BP.
"This schedule is being adjusted in view of the fact the company is
consolidating new downstream assets that used to be part of TNK-BP," Mr.
Sechin said.