Desperate to find new markets for the vast quantities of natural gas it once sent to Europe by pipeline, Russia is on a mission to dramatically increase its ability to export the fuel by sea.
The catch is it needs to develop its own technology to do so, and fast.
Russia wants to triple liquefied natural gas exports by the end of the decade, an ambitious goal that would make it a major supplier and, crucially, allow the holder of the world’s largest natural gas reserves to tap much-needed new consumer markets. To accomplish this, Moscow is accelerating its own liquefaction technologies to compete toe-to-toe with the best LNG equipment makers, from France to the U.S. — all of whom left Russia after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.