Gazprom, the Kremlin-controlled gas giant, could become a key supplier to the United States under a potential ground-breaking deal with BP, it emerged today.

BP is understood to have offered Gazprom a stake in a key liquefied natural gas operation in Trindad and Tobago as part of a strategic alliance agreed earlier this summer.

Russian newspaper Vedomosti claimed that a source working for BP’s Russian TNK-BP joint venture revealed that Gazprom was considering the offer.

The Atlantic LNG operation in Trinidad and Tobago is the largest supplier of liquefied natural gas to the US, shipping 75 per cent of its production to the American market - 1 billion cubic feet a day.

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The venture was set up more than a decade ago with BG Group and Spain’s Repsol among other key shareholders. It runs four separate LNG ‘trains’ and BP holds a stake of at least 34 per cent in each of the four.

A BP spokesman refused to comment on "specific rumours" but said: "We have are having ongoing discussions with Gazprom as we announced we would and these discussions could cover any part of our portfolio."

The two companies agreed to work together on gas investments in June when BP ceded control of Kovykta, one of the world’s largest natural gas fields, to its rival.

BP had been under intense pressure to sell out of the project and is only likely to receive $900 million. Analysts had valued the Kovykta field at £3 billion.

At the time, Tony Hayward, BP’s new chief executive, said: "This historic agreement lays the ground for powerful co-operation between BP, TNK-BP and Gazprom.

“We will initially be looking for projects of at least $3 billion, but the potential for further growth could be very significant.”

Asset swaps have become an increasingly popular option for some of the world’s biggest energy companies to boost the size and scale of their operations.

Gazprom and E.ON, the German power group, are locked in talks over a deal that could see the Russian giant take a stake in up to five of E.ON’s gas-fired plants in the UK.

Liquefied natural gas is expected to be the largest source of incremental natural gas supply to the US over the coming decades. The US has several LNG import facilities with a capacity of almost six billion cubic feet per day.

Peak import capacity is projected to reach 6.5 trillion cubic feet by 2030.

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