Sabetta’s unloading ramp will be ready to test the tankers’ docking system in the first quarter of next year, Leonid Mikhelson, Chairman of the Board of NOVATEK, told Vladimir Putin when briefing the President on the company’s current activities. “We have already assembled the unloading modules”, he added.
According to NOVATEK CEO, four icebreakers are working today, including two atomic-powered icebreakers. There are also two port-based tugboats built by Atomflot specially for this project, and two icebreaker tugboats will be built next year. Another large port-based icebreaker is also under construction and will enter service in 2018.
“We have contracts signed for nearly the entire volume – 96 percent – of the future LNG production. The first tanker, which we have named Christophe de Margerie, is going through its first tests now”, said Leonid Mikhelson.
According to him, over the time the project has been underway, more than 10 million tonnes of freight have been delivered and unloaded in Sabetta.
“I think we will be able to invite you to see the first tanker getting filled in exactly 12 months’ time”, Leonid Mikhelson said to the President.
Arctic port Sabetta is built on the western shore of the Gulf of Ob (Kara Sea) for transshipment of hydrocarbons from the South-Tambey gas condensate field on the Yamal peninsula to the Western Europe, South America and APR countries under Yamal LNG project. The project envisages the construction of an LNG plant able to produce 16.5 million metric tons of LNG per year. The plant is to be launched in 2017 and is expected to operate for at least 35 years.
PAO NOVATEK is Russia’s largest independent gas producer and the second-largest natural gas producer in Russia. Founded in 1994, the Company is engaged in the exploration, production, processing and marketing of natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons. The Company’s upstream activities are concentrated in the prolific Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region, which is the world’s largest natural gas producing area and accounts for approximately 80% of Russia’s natural gas production and approximately 16% of the world’s gas production. NOVATEK is a public joint stock company established under the laws of the Russian Federation. The Company’s shares are listed in Russia on Moscow Exchange (MOEX) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) under the ticker symbol «NVTK».