Gazprom courts India in LNG

Russian natural gas company Gazprom sees promising opportunities in an Indian economy hungry for more energy, an executive said from Moscow. Gazprom chairman Alexei Miller welcomed India's envoy to Moscow Aja Malhotra to his offices in Moscow. Both sides, according to a statement from the Russian gas monopoly, discussed strengthening ties in the liquefied natural gas sector. "In 2020 natural gas consumption in India will be 1.7 times more than today," added Miller. "The Indian market is very promising for us and we take this into consideration while planning to construct export capacities." The report comes as delegates from Islamabad and Ashgabat make headway in a broad multi-party pipeline that would carry natural gas from fields in Turkmenistan. Iran, meanwhile, aims to build its own gas pipeline for Pakistan, which is facing a looming energy crisis. Gazprom, for its part, said it would focus some of its development on booming economies in Asia. The Russian company adds it shipped 10 deliveries of LNG to India during the past two years.