Russia's Gazprom drops Baltic LNG project

MOSCOW, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it will ditch plans to build a $3.5 billion liquefied natural gas plant on the Baltic Sea.

"A detailed analysis of the Baltic LNG project showed that the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline and exploration of the Shtokman field, which also foresees production of LNG, are more competitive projects," Gazprom said in a statement.

"In this connection a decision has been made to focus the main company's resources on realisation of these priority projects," the company said. (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova)