LNG

Russian pipeline natural gas company Gazprom said it was pressing ahead with LNG projects, including northwest Europe’s largest liquefaction plant and a series of small-scale LNG ventures for truck and shipping transportation and off-grid customers across Russia.

Sept 10 (LNGJ) - Gazprom has awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract for the construction of a Baltic Coast liquefied natural gas plant with 13 million tonnes per annum of output within the Gas Processing Complex (GPC) at Ust-Luga, west of St. Petersburg. A consortium comprising Germany’s Linde and Turkish company Renaissance Heavy Industries will build the plant and handle the installation of two LNG production Trains.

   “A technology patented in Russia will be used to produce this LNG,” said Gazprom. “The patent holders for the technology are Gazprom and Linde,” it added. The LNG plant will operate within the GPC facility near Ust-Luga operated by RusKhimAlyans, a joint venture of Gazprom and RusGazDobycha.

Russian natural gas company Gazprom and the German engineering and industrial gases company Linde have signed accords on the LNG and processing project at Ust-Luga west of St. Petersburg and on the Amur Gas Processing Plant in the Russian Far East.

The signings came at a meeting in St. Petersburg between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Wolfgang Reitzle, Board Chairman at Linde, as well as other executives from both companies.

The meeting covered several issues, including the project for the creation of the Gas Processing Complex in Ust-Luga.

Kirill Seleznev, Director General of RusKhimAlyans, and Juergen Nowicki, Chief Executive of Linde Engineering, signed an agreement of intent in the presence of Miller and Reitzle.

The document outlines the main terms and conditions of a prospective Engineering, Procurement and Site Services (EPSS) contract for Linde.

Gazprom and RusGazDobycha, a special purposes company securing gas supplies for Russia’s chemicals industry, are expecting the various facilities at Ust-Luga to require the processing of 45 billion cubic metres of natural gas per annum.

RusKhimAlyans, a 50-50 joint venture between Gazprom and RusGazDobycha, have already signed 20-year commercial contracts for supplies of feed gas and sales gas as well as ethane fraction for chemicals.

Gazprom and RusGazDobycha are implementing the venture and RusKhimAlyans will be the operator. It is the anchor project of the major gas processing and chemical cluster that is being established in the region.

“The complex will have the largest capacity in Russia in terms of gas processing and will be the largest in northwest Europe in terms of LNG production at 13 million tonnes per annum,” said Gazprom.

“In addition to LNG, its commercial products will include ethane fraction, liquefied petroleum gases and pentane-hexane fraction,” it added.

The parties also reviewed current issues of cooperation, including Gazprom’s Amur Gas Processing Plant (GPP) construction.

“Linde’s equipment for cryogenic gas separation and for helium production is employed at the enterprise,” said Gazprom.

“The GPP’s first two production Trains are being prepared for commissioning at the moment,” the Russian company added.

Gazprom and RusGazDobycha, a special purposes company securing gas supplies for Russia’s chemicals industry and which is a partner in the Ust-Luga LNG production plant proposed for west of St Petersburg on the Baltic Coast, have reached a final investment decision on the massive Semakovskoye gas field in Western Siberia.

Gazprom said it was proceeding with the Ust-Luga LNG production plant on the Baltic Coast and was seeking finance for the facility located near Saint Petersburg and which would be the largest in northwest Europe.

Royal Dutch Shell formally told Russian natural gas company Gazprom recently that it would not be taking part in the proposed Baltic LNG export project planned for near the port of Ust-Luga because of changes in the format.

Gazprom said it finalized the configuration of its planned new Russian liquefaction and export plant proposed for the port of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Coast and has increased the volume of production.