Russia's Gazprom Launched LNG Sales

Russia's oil giant Gazprom said Friday that it sold its first spot liquefied natural gas cargo to Asia, which was bought by Japan?s Chubu Electric.

Gazprom, which has no LNG production of its own, said it had bought the cargo from Japan?s Mitsubishi, which in turn bought the cargo from Celt, a joint venture between Mitsubishi and Tokyo Electric, or TEPCO.

The 145,000-cubic-meter LNG cargo was delivered to the Chita terminal.

?Gazprom intends to take a solid position on Asian markets both in terms of pipeline gas supplies and LNG trade, which is a relatively new sphere of activity for the company,? Gazprom, which is seeking experience before starting to produce its own LNG, said in a statement.

Gazprom aims to build large gas pipelines to China from East Siberia by the start of the next decade.

Gazprom and TEPCO on Thursday signed a broad LNG deal, under which Gazprom agreed to sell spot LNG to TEPCO or buy surplus LNG from the Japanese utility.