Liberalization of Natural Gas Exports to Help Russia Restore Positions on the European and Global Markets

... Russia's national interests and strengthen the position of its natural gas on the European energy market and worldwide. Background The reform of the Soviet gas industry in the early 1990s gave rise to independent gas producers (IGPs) like Itera and Novatek, as well as to private, vertically integrated oil companies specializing basically in associated petroleum gas (APG). Due to low hydrocarbon pricesin the 1990s, only Gazprom could afford large-scale gas production. Itera was mainly engaged in ...