Russ Oil-Gas

11 September 2007 - Upstream OnLine - Russian gas monopoly Gazprom is in talks with a number of Australian energy companies about a possible swaps arrangement for international sales of liquefied natural gas, according to reports. A report published in the Australian newspaper said the talks were announced by Gazprom deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev, in Sydney for meetings of the APEC Business Council. Medvedev said gas swaps were one area of potential co-operation between Gazprom and "leading energy producers of Australia", which he declined to name. "We haven't completed any projects with Australian companies, but we have common interests in order to optimise our resource base and to optimise our trade flows," the newspaper quoted him as saying. Meanwhile, Medvedev said the deal signed last week between PetroChina and Australia's Woodside Petroleum to supply between 2 million to 3 million tonnes of LNG per annum from the Browse development was not a threat to Gazprom. "I consider it a positive event because finally China had bought LNG at the prevailing market price," he said. He added that the demand for LNG in China was so large that there was plenty of business for both Gazprom and Australian suppliers.