Gazprom Establishes a Foothold in the United States

Gazprom starts U.S. trading operations in Houston

Gazprom Marketing & Trading USA, the U.S. arm of the world's largest natural gas producer — which is majority owned by the Russian government — is ramping up operations in Houston in a big way.

The company has signed deals for more than 350 million cubic feet per day of physical supply at several locations around the U.S. and is set to import Russian liquefied natural gas into the country.

“We're entering a business that's very liquid, where the margins are small, so you have to come in with a position with some size,” said John Hattenberger, president of Gazprom Marketing & Trading USA. “For us it's like joining a race starting at 50 miles per hour instead of a dead stop.”

Back in August of 2006, I warned that this would happen and the impact will be felt by the U.S. in a few years.

The Russians are Coming..........................

The LNG debate takes a turn

http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?idr=529&id=697359

Gazprom Registers U.S. Subsidiary

Gazprom has founded a company, Gazprom Marketing and Trading USA in Houston, Texas, to manage the regular delivery of liquid natural gas and the purchase of regasification terminals in the United States. Having begun to deliver gas to the U.S. in 2005, the Russian gas monopoly is planning to move to the direct delivery of liquid natural gas from the Shtokman field and to snap up 20% of the market, a share which could grow from 18 billion cubic meters in 2005 to 40-50 billion cubic meters in 2010.

Russia will try to control policy through our own energy dependency on foreign countries.