Investors in the Arctic LNG II project being developed on the Gydan Peninsula in northern Siberia have held a working meeting on the Web to discuss the construction status of the joint venture being built on platforms and with almost 20 million tonnes per annum of output and a start-up scheduled for 2023.
Lead developer, the Russian natural gas company Novatek, hosted the videoconference attended by Novatek’s Chairman Leonid Mikhelson and his counterparts in the other main investor companies, including, Patrick Pouyanné of French major Total, Huang Yongzhang of China National Petroleum Corp and Xu Keqiang of China National Offshore Oil Corp.
Also in attendance on the Web link were the CEOs of the Japanese partner companies, Tatsuo Yasunaga of Japan’s Mitsui & Co. and Tetsuhiro Hosono of the government body, Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. (Jogmec). The two hold a single combined joint venture stake.
Novatek holds 60 percent of Arctic LNG II and the four other stakeholders each have 10 percent.
Howevr, Total’s stake in Arctic LNG also includes an additional portion related to its 10 percent shareholding in the Novatek company.
The project is based on the hydrocarbon resources of the Utrenneye gas fields with estimated reserves of 1,138 billion cubic metres of natural gas.
The liquefaction plant will produce a nameplate 19.8 MTPA of LNG as well as gas condensate from the Utrenneye resources.
The Arctic plant will have three liquefaction Trains, each with 6.6 MTPA of output and located on gravity-based structure (GBS) platforms.
The contract terms provided initially for the first Train of the project to come on stream by the end of 2023.
The engineering, procurement and construction contract holder is the Franco-US company TechnipFMC, the same company engaged on the completed Yamal LNG plant in the same region.
“During the meeting, the partners discussed the significant progress on implementing the Arctic LNG II project, despite the Covid-19 pandemic,” said a statement.
“Currently, the overall project progress is estimated at 29 percent complete and the concrete casting of the first GBS platform is estimated to be 67 percent complete,” it added.
“The module fabrication yards are working at full capacity and modules are expected to be completed and shipped according to schedule. The modules fabrication progress for the first GBS is estimated at 46 percent,” the investors were told.
On the upstream portion of Arctic LNG II, a total of 17 production wells have already been drilled at the Utrenneye field with three drilling rigs in operation.
“Two more drilling rigs are expected to be mobilized before year-end 2020,” added the statement issued by Novatek.
“The estimated completion so far of the (export) terminal is 69 percent, with the berth expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021,” said the progress report.
Novatek noted that the investors had themselves contributed $7.5 billion in financing for the venture.
The partners also discussed the current status of the project's external financing and confirmed their focus on ensuring the completion of Arctic LNG II in a timely manner.
