The governor said that "Russia was represented by the Sakhalin Region and Gazprom company at the 14th international conference on liquefied gas held in Qatar." In Russia Sakhalin is currently the only real LNG supplier. The world's largest LNG-producing plant is being built at Prigorodnoye settlement on the island and must be put into operation by 2007. Its two production lines will annually turn out 9.6 million tons of LNG.
The governor went on to say that "four largest Japanese companies have already concluded long-term contracts for purchasing Sakhalin gas, and talks with the Kogas company of Korea, and the Sinapek and Sinergy companies of China are under way." In perspective Sakhalin as a real supplier of LNG in the Asia-Pacific region can emerge on the American market where receiving terminals are being actively built. The governor links Sakhalin's prospects with its gainful geographical situation. "LNG deliveries to Japan, Korea and China will take only two-three days, whereas it takes a tanker 23 days to reach them from the Middle East, from Qatar," the governor says.
The annual increment of the sale of this kind of fuel stands at 4.5%, and the LNG market has proved to be the most dynamically developing one.
