PRESS: Shell wants 25–35% in Russia’s Baltic LNG, not 49%

MOSCOW, Apr 20 (PRIME) -- U.K.-Netherlands’ Royal Dutch Shell wants to acquire a 25–35% stake in Russian liquefied natural gas producer Baltic LNG from Gazprom, not 49%, as reported earlier, business daily Kommersant reported on Wednesday, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.

CEO of Gazprom Alexei Miller said that Shell is interested in a Baltic LNG stake in June 2015. A memorandum was expected to be signed at the St. Petersburg economic forum but this did not happen. The sources said that the companies schedule the signing of an agreement that would not be legally binding for June’s forum in St. Petersburg.

Gazprom valued the entire Baltic LNG project at U.S. $11.5 billion, the sources said.

According to Valery Nesterov, analyst at Sberbank Investment Research, the price of the LNG produced by the plant will stand at $8 per MBTU (million British thermal units), while the average spot market price in Northwestern Europe is below $4 per MBTU. Market prices can grow but the Russian project will need incentives from the government to succeed, he said.

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