LNG

Ice-class carrier Christophe de Margerie is attempting a seasonally early eastbound transit from Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 terminal via the Northern Sea Route to Asia, underscoring the Russian company’s efforts to sustain exports to predominantly Chinese buyers.

Jan 22 (LNG) - US and Russian cargoes are scheduled for delivery to European LNG import terminals in the coming week with the Dutch Title Transfer Facility day-ahead spot price on the European Energy Exchange on January 22 decreasing to the equivalent of $8.955 per million British thermal units from $9.109 per MMBtu at the end of last week.

   The “Christophe De Margerie” with 172,600 cubic metres capacity is scheduled to deliver a Russian cargo on January 24 to the Zeebrugge terminal in Belgium, according to shipping data. The cargo was lifted on January 17 from the Yamal plant in northern Siberia. Germany is scheduled to receive a US cargo on January 29 at the import terminal at Brunsbüttel on the Elbe. The cargo will be delivered by the “Elisa Aquila” vessel with 170,500 cubic metres capacity. The volumes were loaded on January 14 at the Cameron plant in Louisiana.

Dec 27 (LNGJ) - The UK is scheduled to receive two New Year LNG shipments, one from Russia and one from the US. The 172,600 cubic metres capacity carrier “Christophe de Margerie” is scheduled to deliver a cargo on January 1 to the UK South Hook terminal at the Welsh port of Milford Haven from the Arctic Yamal plant in northern Siberia, according to shipping data. The US cargo is arriving on January 2 at the adjacent Dragon terminal at Milford Haven in the 174,000 cubic metres capacity vessel “LNG Bonito”. The ship lifted the cargo on December 19 from the Sabine Pass plant in the US state of Louisiana.

Nov 19 (LNG) - The UK is set to receive a liquefied natural gas cargo next week from Russia. The 172,600 cubic metres capacity vessel “Christophe De Margerie” is scheduled to deliver a shipment on November 24 to the UK Dragon terminal at Milford Haven in Wales from the Yamal export facility in Arctic Russia, according to port authorities.

   A previous Russian cargo was delivered to the UK on June 15 to the Isle of Grain terminal on the Medway-Thames estuary 45 miles southeast of London onboard the 177,000 cubic metres of capacity carrier “Boris Vilkitsky”. At that time the UK benchmark National Balancing Point (NBP) natural gas price was at the equivalent of $9.55 per million British thermal units. It was quoted on November 19 at $32.35 per MMBtu.

The Russian authorities said that cargo transportations along the Northern Sea Route from Russia to Asia in the January-September 2021 period have amounted to 24.22 million tons, which is 3.5 percent more than in the same period last year.

June 22 (LNGJ) - The European natural gas and LNG benchmark price, the Dutch Title Transfer Facility, increased to a 2021 high of $10.30 per million British thermal units as cargoes headed for Spanish ports from Russia and Nigeria. The 172,600 cubic metres capacity carrier “Christophe de Margerie” was scheduled to deliver a cargo on June 25 to the port of Bilbao in northwest Spain from the Yamal LNG plant in Russia, according to shipping data. Another cargo was due on June 25 at the Cartagena terminal in southeast Spain from the Nigerian plant at Bonny Island on board the 148,452 cubic metres capacity vessel “LNG Imo”.

Shipments of LNG are continuing unabated on a small fleet of Arc-7 ice-class carriers from the Russian Yamal export plant in northern Siberia along the Northern Sea Route to North Asian destinations such as China and Taiwan.

Novatek, the natural gas company and operator of the Yamal LNG export plant in Arctic Russia, said the Arc7 ice-class LNG tanker “Christophe de Margerie” of Sovcomflot successfully transited the eastbound and ice-covered part of the Northern Sea Route and reached the Bering Strait in only 12 days.

Two more Arc7 ice-class liquefied natural gas carriers are entering service to transport shipments produced at the Yamal liquefied natural gas plant in northern Siberia, operated by Russian natural gas company Novatek, taking the number in the Yamal fleet to 13 vessels.

Executives said the next two ships to join the fleet are the “Nikolay Urvantsev” and the “Vladimir Voronin” after they complete sea trials.

All the ships delivered so far have been built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering in South Korea and have capacities of between 170,000 cubic metres and 172,600 cubic metres.

The “Nikolay Urvantsev” is owned by the Japanese company Mitsui OSK Lines. Other vessels are owned or operated by a variety of companies, including Bermuda-based Teekay LNG, Greek shipping line Dynagas and Russia's Sovcomflot.

All but one of the tankers are named after Russian Arctic explorers or scientists.

The first Arc7 tanker, the “Christophe De Margerie”, is named after the late Chief Executive of French energy major Total who died in a plane crash near Moscow in 2014.

Total is a major investor in Novatek and in the Yamal plant.

The 11th completed vessel, the “Nikolay Yevgenov”, underwent sea trials in April and delivered its first cargo in early June.

A 14th vessel of the 15 on order, the “Yakov Gakkel”, is at the DSME yard and is also set to begin trials. The 15th ship is as yet unnamed.

The tankers have been delivering Yamal shipments since the facility began operations in December 2017.

The plant comprises three liquefaction Trains with a total nameplate capacity of 16.5 million tonnes per annum, or 5.5 MTPA per LNG train.

Yamal is dependent on the ice-breaker tankers to ship LNG from Arctic waters to Western Europe and Asia.

Novatek said it had asked DSME to speed up construction and delivery of the tankers after production at the LNG plant ramped up faster than expected.

Many of the carriers have conducted ship-to-ship LNG transfers to conventional carriers, particularly offshore Norway, though during the summer months they can traverse the Northern Sea Route eastwards to North Asian countries.

Other ships in the fleet include the “Georgiy Brusilov”, delivered in November 2018 and the “Boris Davidov” in December and they are operated by Dynagas.

Among the other ships in the Arc7 fleet are the “Boris Vilkitsky”, the “Fedor Litke”, the “Eduard Toll”, the “Vladimir Rusanov”, the “Rudolf Samoylovich” and the “Vladimir Vize”.

Novatek, the Russian natural gas company and operator of the Yamal liquefaction and export plant at Sabetta in Siberia, has boosted its first-half natural gas sales with LNG export volumes.