Russia: Competition Intensifies Ahead of an East Asian Energy Strategy

As Moscow seeks new buyers in East Asia for its oil and natural gas exports, the competition over who profits from new energy agreements is intensifying. In fact, several agreements reached over the past weekend exemplify this competition. On June 22, Russian natural gas giant Gazprom signed documents with a consortium of Japanese firms to build a liquefied natural gas facility in Vladivostok. Earlier on June 21, Tokyo agreed to allow Russia's Rosneft to supply Japan with liquefied natural gas. Meanwhile, Russia's Novatek signed a deal to include China National Petroleum Corp. in the Yamal liquefied natural gas consortium. The deal follows a massive $270 billion oil agreement made June 21 between China and Rosneft.

While these deals reaffirm Russia's desire to divert some of its energy exports from Europe, what is more interesting is the way in which they are being struck. Japan and China are playing Russian energy companies off one another, and Russian energy companies are playing Japan and China off one another — all while each party looks to capitalize on Russia's new energy strategy.