Russia's State Duma Plans to Back Bill Allowing LNG Exports From Arctic Areas

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, Russia (Sputnik) - Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament, plans to pass a bill in October authorizing the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from subsoil areas of the Arctic region north of the 67th parallel north, Pavel Zavalny, the chairman of the State Duma Energy Committee, said Wednesday.

"A bill to amend Articles 2 and 3 of the federal law On Gas Exports is being prepared for the second reading. It provides for the granting of an exclusive right to export LNG from onshore subsoil areas located in whole or in part in subsoil areas north of the 67th parallel north ... The bill is a government one, and we plan to pass it in the third reading in October," Zavalny told a plenary session of the Far Eastern Energy Forum.

In May, the State Duma passed in the first reading a bill authorizing LNG exports to users of onshore subsoil areas located in whole or in part north of the 67th parallel north. The bill concerns gas fields located in the Arctic areas of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Nenets Autonomous Area and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area. The share of the state in the authorized capital of such subsoil consumers should be more than 50%.

Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anastasia Bondarenko told a meeting of the State Duma Energy Committee in April that the bill applies to 36 fields owned by Russian oil company Rosneft.