(EnergyAsia, March 29 2011, Tuesday) — UK-based Gazprom Global LNG (GGLNG), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gazprom Marketing & Trading (GM&T), said it has appointed Nigel Kuzemko as global director of liquefied natural gas (LNG) development.

Mr Kuzemko will be based in Singapore and report directly to Frederic Barnaud, managing director of Gazprom Global LNG, at the company’s London headquarters.

With a masters degree in geophysics from the University of London and another in business from Henley Management College, Mr Kuzemko has accumulated over 20 years of commercial and senior executive experience in the energy sector. He has worked extensively on commercial arrangements in the natural gas industry from upstream exploration through the value chain to retail energy.

Mr Kuzemko joins GGLNG from New Zealand-based Frontera, where he spent the last three years as director strategy and commercial, having previously worked for Qatargas since 2006 as head of global LNG marketing and played a role in the development of Qatargas markets in the UK, US, Japan and Thailand.

He worked on European gas for LASMO, ARCO and TXU Europe until he joined Shell in 2000 where, after an initial period as chief executive officer of a downstream power and gas company, Pulse Energy in Melbourne, he helped develop the LNG trading business.

Mr Kuzemko then left to join Santos in 2004 where he developed a company LNG strategy involving PNG and Gladstone LNG.

As global director of LNG development, he will lead the expansion of the portfolio and orchestrate both origination and business development at the global level. He will enhance relationships with key LNG producers to grow the supply portfolio, evaluate new supply opportunities, facilitate expansion in new technologies (such as floating liquefaction) as well as new markets accessible through traditional or small scale LNG developments.

His priority will remain the development of full-value commercial chains for the Russian LNG projects of Gazprom, in particular Sakhalin and Shtokman.

Mr Barnaud said: “We are delighted that Nigel is joining the team at this time. He brings with him a wealth of experience and capability to support the next phase of our growth – the further expansion of our portfolio in the Asia-Pacific region, one of the major global hubs in commodities trading.

“Nigel’s expertise in marketing and trading LNG across multiple geographies as well as his vast network of contacts in the industry make him invaluable for such a dynamically growing business as ours.”

Mr Kuzemko added: “Working with the global GM&T team will be a tremendous challenge as we deliver our vision through innovative energy products for customers and increased opportunities for Gazprom and partners on LNG.”

GGLNG has extensively developed its commercial activities and portfolio across the world, and in particular in Asia through its Singapore-based affiliate, Gazprom Marketing & Trading Singapore Pte Ltd. GGLNG now ranks among the most active LNG traders and charterers in the region.

GM&T is a UK-registered wholly-owned subsidiary of the Gazprom Group, the world’s largest gas company by asset base, accounting for 17% of the world’s total natural gas reserves and for about 70% of natural gas reserves in Russia. Headquartered in London,

GM&T was established in 1999 to manage Gazprom’s marketing and trading activities in the liberalised markets of Europe.

GM&T optimises Gazprom’s energy commodity assets and downstream expansion through its marketing and trading network. With subsidiaries in Houston, Singapore, Paris, Berlin and Manchester, the company trades energy commodities including gas, power, oil and oil products, carbon, LNG and FX.