LNG

Exports of Russian liquefied natural gas cargoes from the Yamal plant in northern Siberia and the Sakhalin plant in Russia’s Far East declined only slightly in the past year as Moscow also adapted its oil export policies under the OPEC+ regime as well as to cope with Western sanctions over Ukraine.

Novatek, the Russian natural gas company and operator of the Yamal LNG export plant and developer of Arctic LNG II currently still under threat from Western sanctions imposed because of the Ukraine invasion, has reported operating data for the first quarter of 2023 as it continued to supply cargoes to the European Union.

Russian liquefied natural gas production has risen in 2022 while overall natural gas production by Gazprom and other companies has dropped because of Russian gas cut-offs in retaliation for US and European Union-led sanctions imposed for the invasion of Ukraine.

Seapeak LLC, formerly known as Teekay LNG Partners and with interests in 47 LNG carriers, 20 mid-size liquefied petroleum gas carriers and seven multi-gas vessels, has formally taken the name of Seapeak and implemented several corporate changes.

The Teekay partnership in January 2022 officially became part of the US investment fund firm, Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, and the renaming process to Seapeak began.

Seapeak’s ownership interests in these 74 vessels range from 20 percent to 100 percent and the company also owns a 30 percent interest in the Bahrain LNG regasification terminal in the Arabian Gulf.

The company said that effective from February 25 Teekay was converted from a limited partnership formed under the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands into a Marshall Island limited liability company.

“Accordingly, all of the rights and liabilities of Teekay LNG in its prior partnership form are automatically vested in Seapeak,” said a statement.

“Concurrent with the conversion, Teekay has changed its name from Teekay LNG Partners LP to Seapeak,” it added.

The changes extend to the stock exchange ticker symbols and those for outstanding securities.

Teekay’s New York Stock Exchange preferred units ticker changes from TGP to SEAL.

Oslo-listed bonds

Effective from March 1, 2022, the ticker symbols for Seapeak’s Norwegian Kroner-denominated bonds listed on the Oslo Børs will be changed from TKLNG05, TKLNG06 and TKLNG07 to SPK05, SPK06 and SPK07 respectively.

As regards the NYSE common units, these were delisted in January 2022.

Teekay had started its LNG business in 2004 and publicly listed as Teekay LNG Partners on the NYSE in 2005.

Over the next 18 years, the shipping line built an LNG franchise into the world’s third-largest independent LNG carrier owner and operator.

It also expanded the business into the LPG carriers sector and completed several highly specialized and complex projects.

These included building six Arc7 ice-breaker LNG carrier for the Russian Yamal LNG project and it became part of the joint venture in Bahrain to build and deliver the Arab kingdom’s regasification terminal.

Fluxys Belgium said that the Zeebrugge import terminal had formally started its long-term trans-shipment contract with the Russian Yamal export plant in Russia with the loading of the 155,000 cubic metres capacity carrier “Yenisei River” from the newly commissioned fifth storage tank.

The Dutch Gate LNG import terminal in Rotterdam, now the focus of more trans-shipment activity from Russia, has requested interested parties to book capacity in an open season process.