MOSCOW, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Russia's lower house ofparliament on Friday gave its final backing to amendmentsopening the way for Gazprom's rivals to exportsuper-cooled gas by tanker to the fast-growing Asian market.
Russia wants to double its share of the global trade inliquefied natural gas (LNG) to 10 percent by 2020, benefitingfrom Japan's moves to switch away from nuclear power and China'scall to curb coal usage.
Changes to the law on gas exports, passed at a third andfinal reading, would allow Russia's No.2 gas producer Novatek and state oil giant Rosneft to finishprojects and compete with Gazprom's existing Sakhalin-2 plant.
Passage of the measure, which still requires upper-houseapproval and President Vladimir Putin's signature to take effectin January, is critical to locking down up-front sales andproject finance for major new projects.