Russia plans to build a second liquefied natural gas plant in its far east region in next few years, a regional governor said, just a week after the Sakhalin-2 project came on stream.

Primorye Governor Sergei Darkin said the plant would be among the largest in the Asia-Pacific region, although the details of the project were still being worked out.

Natural gas would be supplied from offshore deposits around the Pacific island of Sakhalin, a Reuters report said.

A pipeline from Sakhalin to the region’s capital, Vladivostok, was due for completion in 2011, the local administration said in a statement on its website.

“Residents of Primorye will feel the positive effect of realising this project in the next few years, through the creation of new jobs and the strengthening of the economy…” Darkin was quoted as saying in a statement.

Sakhalin Energy, controlled by Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom, inaugurated the country’s first LNG plant last week in a lavish ceremony including Russian and Japanese heads of state.

At full capacity, it will be able to supply 5% of world demand for the super-cooled gas.

The first cargo is expected to load at the end of March.

Japan, the world’s largest LNG consumer, will take about 65% of the plant’s output and the rest will be sold to South Korea and the North American market.

(Upstream Online)