Page 11 - GLNG Week 30

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Novatek to seek NWF funding for gas tankers
invEstmEnt
RUSSIA’S second-largest natural gas producer and global liquefied natural gas (LNG) run- ner-up Novatek asked the government to cut the interest rates for construction of its LNG tank- ers at the Zvezda shipyard using the sovereign National Welfare Fund (NWF), Kommersant daily reported on July 29 citing unpublished letter of Novatek’s head and Russia’s richest man Leonid Mikhelson to Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev.
As reported by bne IntelliNews, tanker transportation strategy is crucial for Novatek’s LNG exports development. At the same time the government recently came under re from the central bank and the Audit Chamber for its plans to unseal the NWF beyond the 7% of GDP threshold.
Reportedly, Novatek suggested depositing $5bn from NWF on the accounts of state devel- opment bank Vnesheconombank (VEB.RF),
which would then discount lease construction of 15 LNG tankers for Novatek’s next LNG pro- ject Arctic LNG-2.
Notably, Zvezda is controlled by the Ros- ne egaz holding company, which holds state stakes in Gazprom and Rosne , and headed by influential head of Rosneft Igor Sechin, who is also the CEO of the Rosne oil com- pany subsidiary.
Previous reports and Kommersant sources note that initially Novatek intended to build the tankers in South Korea, but in order to support domestic shipbuilding the contracts were le with Russian shipyard Zvezda, despite about 20% price di erence.
Industry sources surveyed by the daily believe that Novatek will nd it hard to nance projects with Zvezda internationally, as it both carries sanction risks and has little competence in building gas tankers.™
miDDlE EAst
Leviathan partners consider FLNG options
PRojECts & ComPAniEs
DEVELOPERS of the Leviathan gas eld o - shore Israel have lined up front-end engineering and design (FEED) studies for floating LNG (FLNG) exports. Delek Drilling, which has a 45.34% stake in the Leviathan project, said two separate agreements, with Golar LNG and Exmar, had been signed on July 29.
The FLNG unit might have production capacity of 2.5-5mn tonnes per year (tpy). Delek said negotiations would focus on commercial terms and conditions for such a facility, and its operation.
e agreement with Golar was for an assess- ment of a generic FEED study on the construc- tion of an FLNG facility in Israel’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). It was also to provide detailed engineering plans on such a facility.
The deal with Exmar was for a dedicated FEED on Leviathan, in addition to detailed engi- neering plans.
Delek noted both companies’ experience in this area. Golar has provided a producing FLNG unit in Cameroon, to Perenco, while Exmar has recently started up the Tango FLNG unit, o - shore Argentina. Belgium’s Exmar is also the provider of a oating storage and regasi cation unit (FSRU) at Hadera, in Israel.
Should Exmar or Golar put forward a con- vincing case, Delek said the partners on Levia- than would engage one of them in a long-term deal – covering construction, nancing, opera- tions and maintenance.
ere has been discussion of an FLNG unit in the area before. In April, ExxonMobil was rumoured to be holding talks with the Levia- than partners on such a plan. is would have involved linking up the US super-major’s nds o shore Cyprus. Leviathan holds around 600bn cubic metres of gas, while ExxonMobil’s Glau- cus nd, in Cyprus’ Block 10, may contain 140- 220 bcm.
e most prominent option, though, has been the construction of a pipeline onshore, ultimately taking gas to liquefaction plants in Egypt, at Idku or Damietta. Leviathan is in waters 1,600-1,750 metres deep, which would likely require a more expensive FLNG option, similar to the $7bn Coral South LNG plan in Mozambique, or the $14bn Prelude LNG project in Australia. A cheaper option might be to pipe the gas to shallower waters, where an FLNG unit could be moored – a technique Golar is implementing o shore Senegal-Mau- ritania for BP.™
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