Russia is the leading world exporter of natural gas and one of its major consumers. In 2019, the domestic sales reached almost 500 billion m3, and the exports near and far abroad were about 200 billion m3. Despite the expected decline in energy resources consumption in the second half of 2020, the Russian Federation maintains the potential for growth. Domestic market expansion is only getting more critical under the price parity. The consumption growth can be achieved by building a more efficient novel load for existing distribution grid infrastructure, as well as the development of the domestic liquefied natural gas market.
The article provides the evaluation results for the production and consumption prospects of liquefied natural gas in Russia. It also considers the economic aspects of natural gas liquefaction at conventional plants, compressed natural gas fueling stations, gas distribution stations, nitrogen plants, electric and heat power plants. The uses of natural gas outlined in the paper along with gasification include the road transport sector (given the growth potential of gas consumption by power plants due to the development of public electric transport), rail and river transport. The existing and prospective projects are described that would enable a considerable increase in the domestic consumption of natural gas. Economic and regulatory support measures are suggested for the development of gas supply in Russian regions, including funding mechanisms for the implementation of the projects.
Keywords: GASIFICATION, NATURAL GAS, LNG, CNG, GAS SUPPLY, TRANSPORT, MOTOR FUEL.