Gazprom coming to the U.S.?

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Scott Jagow: The Russian energy company Gazprom could become a major natural gas supplier to the United States. Russian newspapers say the Kremlin-controlled company has been offered a stake in a huge liquefied natural gas operation in the Caribbean. More now from Stephen Beard in London.

Stephen Beard: The Russian newspaper Vedomosti says that Gazprom has been offered a share in the Atlantic LNG operation. The operation ships about a billion cubic feet of natural gas from Trinidad to the U.S. every day.

LNG still accounts for only a very small percentage of America’s total natural gas consumption, but it is set to grow.

And if Gazprom takes up the stake it will acquire a key Western energy asset, says Mark Smedley of World Gas Intelligence.

Mark Smedley: It’s very important and it’s quite pivotal to how the trade in liquefied natural gas operates in the western hemisphere.

But he believes that Gazprom could face opposition within the United States. Gazprom gained notoriety last year after temporarily switching off gas supplies to the Ukraine.

In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.