US interested in Russia building liquefied gas capacities

The US is interested in Russia building capacities for the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG), said US Assistant Secretary of Commerce William Lash at a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday.

The US has an interest in such LNG capacities, because this is a sector where the US has advanced knowledge, he said.

Lash recalled that cooperation between Russia and the US on LNG projects was already discussed several times at length at most different levels.

Even the Bush administration spoke of the US intention to diversify its energy supplies. The US can be seen as a promising partner in this respect, he noted.

Lash said that despite a suspension of the construction of a pipeline to Murmansk in the Kola peninsula in the north of European Russia, the US was still interested in such projects. On the whole, speaking of northern oil projects, Lash said that the US was looking eagerly to a positive signal from Russia to launch practical action.

The US and Russia are strategic partners and the US expects impatiently a signal to the development of such events, he said.

Lash specified that the US actively cooperates with Russia on projects of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium and is also beginning to discuss northern projects.

At the same time, Lash declined to answer the question if the share of Russian supplies to the American market would be increased.