Posted on 02/19/2009 3:11:45 AM PST by kronos77
MOSCOW — Russia has profited handsomely from natural gas exports to Europe. Now, after years of false starts and disputes, and mutual suspicions between Moscow and Beijing, Russia is turning its attention to Asia.
The moves are prompted by both the promise of a marriage of Russian resources with Asian manufacturing, and Russia’s financial desperation as interest from Western banks and investors dries up.
On Wednesday — just a day after agreeing to supply oil to China for the next 20 years, in exchange for $25 billion in loan guarantees — Russia opened its first liquefied natural gas plant to supply fuel to Asia.
The plant, built on Sakhalin Island north of Japan and part of the $22 billion Sakhalin 2 development, will greatly expand Russia’s natural gas empire. In fact, futures contracts have already been signed to ship Russian gas as far away as the West Coast of the United States.
The Russians are hoping Asian governments, with their enormous cash reserves, can compensate for the vast sums Western investors have pulled out of Russia in recent months. China, meanwhile, sees an opportunity to invest cheaply in natural resources it will need when its economy recovers.
Sakhalin 2 is the largest Russian energy project supplying Asia to come into production to date.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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