"We are studying different scenarios for our work on the American market, and they will be linked to our liquefied natural gas production plans," said Alexander Medvedev, a deputy chairman of Gazprom's management committee.
However, Medvedev said that although there are no such plans at present, this does not mean the company is not interested in the market.
The Gazprom top manager, who also heads Gazprom's export arm Gazexport, said the U.S. market did not offer a large number of assets, and that acquisitions and work on the market must be backed by a resource base, namely liquefied natural gas, needed to secure reliable supplies.
For example, the official said, the U.S. will receive supplies from Sakhalin II, a huge energy project in Russia's Far East expected to yield over 9 million tons of LNG annually.
"Almost all Sakhalin II gas has been contracted by consumers, including for deliveries to the U.S. west coast," he said.
In late December, Gazprom purchased 50% plus one share in Sakhalin II for $7.45 billion. The project was previously controlled by Royal Dutch Shell.
