The first batch of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russian gas producer Novatek’s Yamal LNG plant was loaded on the Christophe de Margerie tanker on Friday in the presence of President Vladimir Putin, says the Prime agency.
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 field development plan provides for the drilling of 208 wells at 19 well drilling pads. Natural gas produced at the field will be delivered to the international markets in a form of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, which requires construction of a liquefaction plant consisting of three (3) production trains of 5.5 mmt annual capacity each. The shipping infrastructure will include a jetty with two tanker loading berths at the port of Sabetta equipped with ice protection barriers. Ice-class LNG carriers of special Arc-7 design will be used to transport the LNG to international markets.
Dmitry Kobylkin, the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District’s Governor earlier said: "The resource potential is sufficient to produce up to 70 mln t of LNG near Sabetta. We are looking in the future and plan having in Yamal a center for LNG production so that the center could take 15% of the global market. The estimated resources of the Gydan Peninsula in the Arctic region are comparable with those in Yamal itself."
Christophe de Margerie is the first in a series of 15 icebreaking LNG carriers ordered for the Yamal LNG project, to transport LNG year-round in the challenging ice conditions of the Kara Sea and Gulf of Ob. Her appearance signalled the market debut for Yamalmax ships, a new class of vessel.
The vessel is capable of sailing independently through ice of up to 2.1 metres thick. She has been assigned an ice class Arc7, the highest ice class amongst existing merchant vessels. The power of her propulsion system is 45 MW, which is comparable to the capacity of a modern nuclear-powered icebreaker. In August 2017, she became the world’s first merchant vessel to travel the full length of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) safely, without any icebreaker escort, while also setting a new time record for an NSR transit of just 6.5 days.
PAO NOVATEK is one of the largest independent natural gas producers 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».
Sovcomflot became an independent operator of gas carriers in 2006. Previously this market segment was inaccessible for Russian companies. Today, the gas fleet of SCF Group comprises 13 vessels, including nine LNG carriers and four LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) carriers. These vessels serve such clients as Gazprom, Shell, Sakhalin Energy, and Sibur.
SCF Group (PAO Sovcomflot) is Russia’s largest shipping company and a world leader in the maritime transportation of hydrocarbons as well as the servicing and support of offshore oil & gas production. The company’s fleet numbers 150 vessels with a combined deadweight of 13.1 million tonnes. SCF Group specialises in the shipping of crude oil, liquefied gas and a wide range of oil products. The Group’s vessels perform complex towing operations and geophysical survey work at offshore oil & gas fields. Sovcomflot supports large-scale offshore energy projects in Russia and overseas, including: Sakhalin-I, Sakhalin-II, Varandey, Tangguh, Peregrino, Prirazlomnoye, Noviy Port, Yamal LNG and others. SCF Group employs over 9,300 personnel both on land and at sea. The company is registered in Saint-Petersburg and has representative offices in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, London, Limassol, Madrid, Singapore and Dubai.
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