Forthcoming in East-West Journal of Economics and Business

Russian gas exportation, Liberalisation, European gas market, Russian gas policy. JEL classification: Industrial organization, International economics. Russia’s gas strategy is currently undergoing fundamental changes. The internationalisation of Russia’s gas exchanges is at the heart of Gazprom’s strategy. The institutional and organisational developments in its principal export market, that of the European Union is a major challenge that brings opportunities as well as constraints. The European Union is still its main export market, but the emergence of Asia as a significant importer of gas is likely to modify the Russian gas export strategy. To some extent, Russia could bring these various potential markets into competition, at least as far as Europe and Asia are concerned. With almost 40 % of world gas reserves, Russia undoubtedly has a card to play on the international energy markets