Russia launched its $22bn liquefied natural gas project on the Pacific island of Sakhalin yesterday, opening a big new front to supply energy to Asia and on to North America as the Kremlin seeks to diversify energy markets from Europe. The inauguration of the Sakhalin-2 project comes after years of delays and political wrangling over control of the venture in which Royal Dutch Shell was forced to sell control to Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly, at the height of the Kremlin's bid to reassert control over the energy sector in 2006. Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, hailed the launch of the project, which he said would be able to supply 5 per cent of global demand for LNG once at full capacity next year. "This strengthens Russia's position as a major energy market participant," he said at the opening ceremony in Sakhalin, which was also attended by Taro Aso, the Japanese prime minister. The project, which will ship 50 145,000-cubic-metre tankers of super-cooled gas this year to Japan, South Korea and potentially to North America, will open a big new energy route for Russia, which has built most of its geopolitical clout as an energy supplier. "This is the first significant outflow of Russian energy to Asia," said Chris Weafer, chief strategist at Uralsib investment bank in Moscow. "Russia will look to piggy-back that new energy relationship with a closer political relationship." About 65 per cent of LNG produced at the plant will be shipped to Japan. The launch of the project ends Europe's position as the only foreign consumer of Russian gas - all of Russia's existing gas export pipelines are directed into Europe. "Until now Russia and Europe have been joint hostages in the energy relationship. Russia is going to have more options in negotiations in the future," Mr Weafer said. The launch comes just a day after Russia signed off on another big push to send energy east, a $25bn oil for loans deal with China. Under the terms of the deal, Russia agreed to supply China with 30m tonnes of crude from vast new oil fields in east Siberia over 20 years in return for $25bn in loans for Transneft, the state-controlled oil pipeline monopoly, and Rosneft, the state-controlled oil giant, as the companies seek financing. The first branch of a pipeline across Siberia to a hub on the Pacific is expected to be completed this year, with a spur also expected to be built to China. Valery Nesterov, energy analyst at Troika Dialog, the Moscow investment bank, said Russia was looking to boost its share of the Asian energy market from 4 per cent to between 21 per cent and 32 per cent by 2030. It is also hoping to take a 25 per cent share of the world LNG market but is likely to need to bring in outside expertise if it is to do so.