Gazprom, Shell discuss LNG at Sakhalin

MOSCOW, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- The newly appointed head of Royal Dutch Shell met with a delegation from Russian gas monopoly Gazprom to discuss liquefied natural gas developments.

Alexei Miller, the chief executive at Gazprom, met with Shell's Peter Voser to discuss progress at the Sakhalin-2 project.

Voser took the reins at Royal Dutch Shell in July.

Gazprom and Shell signed a 20-year deal on gas pipeline development and liquefied natural gas purchases from Sakhalin facilities in April. That deal followed the first LNG shipments from Sakhalin-2 to Asian markets.

Both parties lauded the successful launch of the project, noting its production rate for 2009 was more than initially projected.

Miller and Voser agreed to move forward with plans to develop a working group to discuss development at the Sakhalin facility and corresponding resource fields.

Sakhalin-2 will reach its nominal capacity of more than 9 million tons of LNG per year by 2010.