MOSCOW, April 19 (RIA Novosti) - Russian supplies of fuels to the US will grow in the near future, Valery Salygin, Director of the International Institute of Energy Policy and Diplomacy under the MGIMO University, said in an interview with RIA Novosti ahead of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Moscow.
"Russia's great prospects depend on the US market of liquefied gas. The US Department of Energy forecasts a 1.5% annual growth in the country's natural gas consumption during the next two decades. Supplies of liquefied natural gas to the US are expected to make up some 42 million metric tons in 2010 and 85 million metric tons in 2020," Salygin pointed out. The expert believes that Russian oil supplies from West Siberia to the US through the Murmansk seaport are also very important.
The official noted that supplies of Russian energy resources to the US, American companies' investment in the Russian fuel and energy sector, their participation in the development of Russian oil and gas fields and cooperation in the high technology sector remain the priorities of the energy dialogue between Moscow and Washington. According to Salygin, the training of qualified staff for the implementation of joint projects is significant for the development of the Russian-American dialogue in the energy sphere.
"This problem is widely discussed at Russian-American energy summits, sessions of ad hoc groups and in the course of cooperation between our countries' large companies, particularly Lukoil and ConocoPhillips, in collaboration with which the institute carries out programs of extended education within the framework of joint projects," Salygin was quoted as saying.
