LNG

Novatek, the Russian natural gas company and operator of the Yamal LNG export plant and developer of the delayed Arctic LNG II venture, has reported positive operating data for the second quarter of 2024 amid continued Western sanctions.

Novatek, the Russian natural gas company and operator of the Yamal LNG export plant in northern Siberia, reported preliminary operating data for the year, including global LNG sales of 9.47 million tonnes.

Dec 18 (LNGJ) - Novatek, the Yamal LNG plant operator, said its subsidiary Novatek-Yurkharovneftegas won the auction for the geological survey, exploration and production licence for the East-Ladertoyskiy subsoil area located on the Gydan Peninsula in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region of Arctic Russia. The licence area has estimated hydrocarbon resources of 184 billion cubic metres of natural gas and 32 million tons of liquids, or 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, according to the Russian resource classification system. The licence term is 25 years.

   The new licence area borders Novatek’s Ladertoyskiy, Nyavuyahskiy, West-Solpatinskiy and Central-Nadoyakhskiy subsoil areas on the Gydan Peninsula, where the company’s Arctic II LNG project is being developed. Novatek said the licence acquisition is in line with the company’s strategy to expand its resource base on the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas.

Novatek, the Russian natural company and owner of the Yamal LNG export plant in northern Siberia, has formally ended its re-loading activities offshore the Norwegian port of Honningsvag that saw several million tonnes of LNG transferred from Ice-class carriers to conventional vessels and shipped to European terminals and beyond.

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”.

The Italian Nidec Industrial Solutions group has signed a contract with Siemens Gas and Power of Germany whereby the Italians will supply variable frequency drive systems and motors for the Arctic LNG II project planned in northern Siberia by Russian natural gas company Novatek and its partners.

Russia delivered a record amount of liquefied natural gas to Europe in February from the Yamal export plant in the Arctic region and became the biggest monthly supplier to the continent for the first time, overtaking Qatar, Nigeria and Algeria.

Novatek, the Russian natural gas company whose Yamal LNG plant started operations just over a year ago, is making progress with its second venture planned for the Gydan Peninsula in the Arctic region with the awarding of another equipment contract.

The owners of the Yamal LNG plant in the Arctic region of Russia are ramping up its cargo deliveries to Asia and the European trans-shipment market as the three-Train facility is now fully on stream.

Mitsui OSK Lines, the Japanese shipping company and LNG fleet owner, has held a naming ceremony in South Korea for an ice-breaking LNG carrier to deliver shipments to Asia from the Russian Yamal LNG export plant in Siberia.