More cash: for Sakhalin LNG project
Extra $1.4bn for Sakhalin 2
Gazprom-led Sakhalin Energy has lined up $1.4 billion in new funding for the Sakhalin 2 liquefied natural gas project, according to reports.
The money comes on top of $5.3 billion provided by the Japan Bank for International Co-operation and a consortium of international commercial banks, Reuters quoted Ian Craig, the head of the project, telling Russian news agency Interfax.
The new funds will be paid in soon, Craig told Interfax.
The LNG project, sited on the Russian Pacific island of the same name, is one of the world's largest. The Sakhalin Energy consortium also includes Shell and Japan's Mitsui and Mitsubishi.
Gazprom took control of the $22 billion venture in 2007 after a lengthy dispute, forcing Shell - the project's former leader - and its partners to reduce their holdings.
Sakhalin Energy plans to produce 9.6 million tonnes of LNG per year by 2011.
According to the head of Gazprom's export unit Alexander Medvedev, the energy giant aims to produce up to 17 million tonnes of LNG at Sakhalin 2 and its Shtokman project in the Arctic by 2020, Interfax reported.
Gazprom has also pencilled in the Yamal Peninsula as a region for LNG production under a long-term development programme that aims to increase Russia's share of the global market to more than 20% from just a few percent currently.