UPDATE: Gazprom puts off commissioning of Baltic LNG facility to 2023

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MOSCOW, Mar 10 (PRIME) -- Russian gas giant Gazprom has postponed commissioning of the Baltic LNG liquefied natural gas (LNG) producing facility to 2022-2023, it said in promo materials for its new bond issue on Friday.

“We expect the Baltic LNG to be launched in 2022-2023 and may revise the inauguration date after the project documentation is prepared,” Gazprom said, adding that it has finished pre-front end engineering design for the project to construct a facility with a capacity of 10 million tonnes of LNG annually and an option to expand the capacity to 15 million tonnes of LNG in the port of Ust-Luga in the Leningrad region.

The plant intended to make LNG for the markets of the Atlantic region, the Baltic and the North seas, as well as the Middle East and the South Asia. The project will be financed using a project financing scheme.

According to the materials, Gazprom also plans to construct 663 kilometers of the Sila Sibiri (Power of Siberia) natural gas pipeline in 2017.

“We have completed construction of about 445 kilometers of the pipeline in 2015-2016 and expect to build an additional 663 kilometers in 2017,” the company said.

Another 18.2 billion rubles will be allocated in 2017 for expansion and reconstruction of the Leningrad region’s gas transfer system to provide transportation means for the Baltic LNG project and create a 55 billion cubic meters entrance point to the Northern Stream 2 pipeline, in the port of Ust-Luga.

In 2017, the company will also spend 39.9 billion rubles on construction of gas transportation infrastructure in the Kaliningrad region, including an LNG regasification terminal worth 17.3 billion rubles, and use 1.6 billion rubles to extend a unified gas supply system between Gryazovets and Slavyanskaya.

In 2019-2020, Gazprom intends to launch the fourth and the fifth fields of the Achimov deposits of the Urengoi oil and gas condensate field in Eastern Siberia, a year later than previously announced.

“We expect the fourth and the fifth fields… to start operating in 2019-2020, together with the first and the second fields, to reach the cumulative capacity of 31.8 billion cubic meters of gas and 10.6 million tonnes of gas condensate in 2026-2030”, the materials read.

The company also affirmed output plans for the fourth and the fifth fields at 13.9 billion cubic meters of gas and 3.8 million tonnes of gas condensate.

Investments of Gazprom’s subsidiaries operating in electrical and heat power production and distribution are expected at 74.5 billion rubles in 2017, as said in the promo materials.

Gazprom Energoholding, Gazprom’s 100% affiliate, ranks among the world’s top 10 power producers holding controlling stakes in utility companies Mosenergo and Moscow United Energy Company (MOEK) and power producers Territorial Generating Company-1 (TGC-1) and Wholesale Generating Company-2 (WGC-2).

(58.8318 rubles – U.S. $1)

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