* Putin yet to approve amendments to the law
* Russia wants to double its global LNG market share
MOSCOW, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Russia's upper house ofparliament approved on Wednesday legislative amendments to allowrivals of state-run Gazprom to export seaborneliquefied natural gas, paving the way for Russia to double itsglobal LNG market share by 2020.
Only Russian President Vladimir Putin, who initiated thechanges, now has to approve the amendments. Lawmakers hadearlier said the law would come into force next year, threeyears before the first new LNG plant is launched.
State-run Gazprom was awarded exclusive rights to exportnatural gas in 2006.
But changes to the law to open up exports of super-cooledgas have been warranted by increasing competition in the globalLNG market from Qatar, Australia and African countries. Gazpromhas been slow to develop its own projects.
"The decision to increase the line-up of exporters ofnatural gas in the form of LNG must secure an increase inRussia's share of the gas market," an upper house document said.
Gazprom's monopoly on pipeline gas exports, which arecurrently pumped only in Europe, stays intact.
Russia wants to double its share in the global LNG market by2020 from 4.5 percent currently. Gazprom and Royal Dutch Shell are key shareholders in Russia's only LNG plant,located on the Pacific island of Sakhalin.
The law would allow Russia's No.2 gas producer Novatek as well as Russia's top oil company Rosneft to proceed with their LNG projects, which they want tocommission in a few years.
The law restricts Rosneft's LNG exports to those producedfrom offshore deposits.
