Russia’s annual production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is expected to grow in the next 15 years, largely thanks to the Yamal LNG project, said President Vladimir Putin at the Russian Energy Week.

"We expect...by 2035 to reach the LNG production level of 120-140 million tons per year," he said, noting that the low cost of production and attractive logistics make Russian LNG projects some of the most competitive in the world. The country’s current annual LNG output stands at 30 million tons.

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Russia’s share on the global LNG market has more than doubled thanks to the Yamal project and now accounts for about nine percent, Putin said. "This is still modest for Russia, but it is a noticeable progress."

The implementation of the Arctic LNG-2 project with foreign partners will produce another 20 million tons of gas per year, he added.

Leonid Mikhelson, the head of the Russian energy giant Novatek, who was also speaking at the event, said he expects Russia to reach one-fifth of global LNG production.

“Russia is the world’s second largest LNG producer with an output of 670 billion cubic meters…I believe the share of the Russian LNG on the global market should increase to 20 percent,” he said.

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According to Putin, since the beginning of the 21st century, the number of countries consuming LNG has grown five-fold, while demand has almost doubled. In five to 10 years, LNG will account for half of the global gas trade, said the Russian president.

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