PRESS: Novatek to build LNG loading terminal in Kamchatka

MOSCOW, Aug 2 (PRIME) -- Independent gas producer Novatek plans to construct a 20 million tonne liquefied natural gas (LNG) loading terminal on the coast of Russia’s easternmost Kamchatka Region, Deputy Management Board Chairman and Commercial Director Lev Feodosyev told Kommersant business daily on Wednesday.

No commissioning date or the sum of investment was disclosed. The company has not chosen whether to construct an offshore or an onshore terminal.

The terminal is intended for loading LNG from ice class tankers able to pass through the Northern Sea Route to regular carriers to reduce transportation costs.

“A transshipping point in the warmer waters of the Pacific Ocean may decrease the need for (50% more) expensive ice class tankers and let us use cheaper vessels,” the executive said.

The Yamal LNG project envisages construction of a 16.5 million tonne LNG plant on the basis of the Yuzhno-Tambeiskoye field on the Yamal Peninsula. Novatek holds 50.1% in the project, France’s Total has 20%, China’s CNPC owns 20% and China’s Silk Road Fund holds 9.9%.

The first stage of the project is to be commissioned until the end of 2017, and 15 Arc7 ice class carriers have already been ordered to ship LNG.

The combined capacity of Novatek’s Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG projects is estimated at 35 million tonnes annually, Feodosyev said.

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