Russia’s largest LNG project kicks into high gear
Independent Russian gas producer Novatek announced the launch of the third train of its Yamal LNG (liquefied natural gas) Arctic project. Built in record time and on budget, the plant has now reached full capacity, the firm says.
The facility is comprised of three liquefaction trains with a total capacity of 16.5 million tons per annum (mtpa), or 5.5 mtpa per LNG train. Novatek has been shipping LNG with two trains. The launch of the third stage is planned for the beginning of 2019.
READ MORE: First LNG shipment from Russia's Arctic to arrive in Northern Europe
The company said that more than 100 LNG cargoes have been offloaded with approximately 7.5 million tons of LNG produced and delivered to five continents over a one-year period since the project’s first shipment in December 2017.
“Yamal LNG is currently the largest LNG project in Russia with an aggregate share of about five percent of the global LNG market,” Novatek’s Chairman of the Management Board Leonid Mikhelson said.
“We believe that Yamal LNG represents a unique benchmark for the global oil and gas industry in terms of project success and implementation. Moreover, the Yamal LNG project enabled us to become one of the major players in the global LNG market,” he added.
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According to Mikhelson, the “accomplishments pave the way to create a large-scale LNG platform utilizing the prolific conventional natural gas resources on the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas as well as facilitating the achievement of our strategic goal to produce 55 - 60 mmtpa by 2030.”
The $27 billion Yamal LNG project began operations last December and has already shipped two million tons of the liquefied fuel. Last month, the company announced the first shipment of LNG from the project to Northern Europe.
READ MORE: Brazil welcomes its first LNG cargo from Russia’s Yamal
Novatek is also developing the Arctic LNG 2 project on the Gydan Peninsula in Northern Siberia. With a production capacity of approximately 19.8 million tons per year, the project is set to unlock over seven billion barrels of oil equivalent of hydrocarbon resources in Russia’s onshore Utrenneye gas and condensate field.
Arctic LNG 2 production will be delivered to international markets in the same way as the Yamal LNG project. A fleet of ice-class LNG carriers, which will be able to use Russia’s Northern Sea Route, will deliver LNG cargoes destined for Asia.
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