* Kremlin says there are huge requests for Russian energy

* Kremlin says there is a global energy crisis

* Europe wants to end its energy purchases from Russia

* Yamal LNG sends first cargo to China since November

By Dmitry Antonov and Guy Faulconbridge

MOSCOW, April 7 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday

there were a huge number of requests for Russian energy from a

range of different places amid a grave global energy crisis that

was shaking the foundations of the oil and gas markets.

The U.S. and Israeli war against Iran has triggered an energy

crisis for the global economy by trapping a large volume of oil

in the Gulf due to Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz to

most vessels.

The crisis comes just as European consumers were trying to

end their reliance on Russian energy to punish Moscow for the

invasion of Ukraine, and as Russia itself looks set to cut its

output in the wake of Ukrainian attacks on its oil

infrastructure.

President Vladimir Putin has suggested switching supplies more

swiftly away from European customers if they do not want Russian

energy.

"Now that the world has confidently embarked on the path of

a rather serious economic and energy crisis, which is growing

day by day, the market and market conditions in the field of

energy and energy resources have completely changed," Kremlin

spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"There are a huge number of requests for the purchase of our

energy resources from alternative sources. We are negotiating,

we are negotiating in such a way that this situation best suits

our interests."

Russia, the world's second largest oil exporter after Saudi

Arabia, produces around 10 million barrels of crude per day and

about half are exported. Russia holds the world's largest

natural gas reserves.

Still, Russia may in fact have to reduce oil production because

Ukrainian strikes on ports, pipelines and refineries have cut

export capability by 1 million barrels per day, or a fifth of

total capacity, Reuters reported last week.

SELLING EASTWARDS

Asian countries including Vietnam, Thailand, the

Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka are lining up to buy

Russian oil as the Iran war blocks supplies, raising the

possibility that demand may exceed supply, Reuters reported last

month.

In a sign of the demand, prices for Russia's Urals blend traded

at a premium of $5.00 to $8.00 per barrel to Brent last month.

Usually, Urals trades at a discount.

Beyond oil, Russia is also moving LNG eastwards.

Yamal LNG, controlled by Russia's largest liquefied natural gas

producer Novatek, has sent its first cargo to China

since last November, LSEG data showed on Tuesday, weeks before

the gradual enforcement of Europe's ban on Russian LNG imports.

The project, located on the Yamal peninsula in the Arctic,

has previously mostly exported its frozen gas to Europe.

Putin said last month that Russia could divert gas away from

Europe, given the European Union's decision to ban imports of

Russian pipeline gas by late 2027 and new short-term Russian LNG

contracts from April 25 this year.