Page 92 - bne IntelliNews Country Report: Russia Dec17

said. The first trains are due to be introduced in 2018 and the cost of the initial phase of the project is RUB12bn ($200mn).
9.2 Major corporate news 9.2.1 Oil & gas corporate news
Russia's state-controlled natural gas giant Gazprom for the first time recognized the possibility of dividing the company in a description of its strategic development prospects. The division of the company would allow Gazprom to dodge the EU third energy package as the company would no longer appear as the monopolist, with its parts technically competing with each other. An anonymous senior official, quoted by Vedomosti , confirmed that a gradual and "soft" reorganisation of the gas giant is possible, although no decision has been reached so far. The announcement comes against the backdrop of a discussion about Gazprom's exclusive right to export natural gas based on its ownership of the pipe infrastructure. The idea of dividing Gazprom was first floated in 2015 by Igor Artemyev, head of the Federal anti-monopoly service. Back then, Artemyev said that the gas giant could be stripped of the export monopoly, while its pipelines would become separate entities.
Russia's second-largest gas producer Novatek signed a memorandum with Japan’s Marubeni Corporation and Mitsui O.S.K. on building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) transhipment terminal on the Kamchatka Peninsula , the company said on November 28. The terminal is central to Novatek's LNG ambitions as it would ensure flexible supplies of LNG to the key market of Asia-Pacific countries. In October Novatek and the region of Kamchatka signed a deal to build a floating LNG terminal. The terminal will have capacity of 20mn tonnes of liquefied gas annually. It will serve as a hub for Novatek's major $27bn Yamal LNG project, which is nearly completed despite the sanctions, and it will target the Asian-Pacific region. Recently Novatek has stepped up its LNG ambitions and is planning a $10bn Arctic-2 LNG plant upon the completion of Yamal LMG, using the gas fields on the Gydan peninsula as the resource base for liquefaction. The capacity will match that of Yamal LNG (16mn tonnes pa that could be revised upwards). Currently Russia produces a total of 10mn tonnes pa of LNG.
Russian entrepreneur and infrastructure investor Andrey Filatov has joined a consortium of investors for the $2bn development of the 25 Years of Independence gas field in Uzbekistan under a production sharing agreement (PSA), as part of a cautious opening up of the Uzbek economy, where until now major Lukoil has been the only significant Russian investor in the oil and gas sector. Filatov speculates that more international investors, including those from Western countries, could follow if the current policies continue.
Austrian energy group OMV expects to complete an asset swap with Russian gas giant Gazprom by the end of planned deadline of end-2018, Reuters said on November 28 citing the CEO of OMV Rainer Seele. The deal has been in the works since 2015 and in late 2016 the companies agreed to swap a 38.5% stake in OMV's Norwegian unit for 25% of Gazprom's Urengoy gas field.
Russia's second-largest gas producer Novatek signed a memorandum with
92 RUSSIA Country Report December 2017 www.intellinews.com