Ben van Beurden, the CEO of Shell, wrote in his article that Russia could become the largest natural gas producer in the world.
“The world needs more natural gas to meet rising energy demand, to complement renewables and to replace coal in power generation. And the opportunity for Russia is huge. It is already the world’s largest exporter of natural gas and it enjoys the world’s largest commercial gas reserves. It is the second largest producer of natural gas. It could be the largest,” van Beurden said.
The Shell CEO recalled that Russia “has done so much with natural gas in very little time.”
The official noted that in the course of the past 20 years, Russian energy company Gazprom, in cooperation with Shell, had built the Nord Stream pipeline and had set up Russia’s first LNG facility Sakhalin 2. At present, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project was being implemented, while Gazprom, working in partnership with Shell and other European companies, planned the new Baltic LNG facility near St. Petersburg, van Beurden continued.
“That is just a taste of what has been achieved in only 20 years. The potential for the next 20 years is even greater. With Russia’s fine track record in the industry, with its superb academic strength driving innovation and with its sheer depth of natural resource, the opportunity is there for the taking. And Russia has the potential to build up an industry which is not only good for Russia, but essential for the world’s push to tackle climate change,” van Beurden argued.