Page 15 - FSUOGM Week 25 2022

FSUOGM PROJECTS & COMPANIES FSUOGM

Novatek head downplays concerns of

Arctic LNG-2 launch delays

RUSSIA NOVATEK CEO Leonid Mikhelson sought to financing for Arctic LNG-2.
downplay concerns about delays at the compa- Arctic LNG-2 is under construction on the
Novatek's head and ny’s Arctic LNG-2 project at the St Petersburg Gydan Peninsula, consisting of three liquefac-
major shareholder International Economic Forum last week, noting tion trains each with a 6.6mn tonne-per-year
previously warned that that while there were “many problems, we strive capacity. Novatek owns a 60% stake in the pro-
the project might have to meet the 2023 deadline.” ject, while TotalEnergies, and Chinese compa-
its schedule revised Mikhelson had warned at a shareholders’ nies CNPC and CNOOC, each own 10% shares,
because of sanctions. meeting in April that the project, which at full and the remaining 10% is held by a partnership
capacity will produce 19.8mn tonnes per year of between Japan’s Mitsui and JOGMEC.
LNG, might have its schedule revised because TotalEnergies announced in March that
of Western sanctions. As part of the fallout from it would stop investing in Arctic LNG-2 and
Moscow’s war in Ukraine, a number of Western would no longer include the project’s hydrocar-
financiers, contractors and equipment suppli- bon reserves on its balance sheet. But the French
ers have withdrawn from Russia’s oil and gas major also ruled out plans to sell its stake or any
industry, or intend to do so, which has raised of its other assets in Russia, which include a
doubts about whether some of the country’s 19.4% stake in Novatek itself, a 20% interest in
more complicated projects can be implemented the completed Yamal LNG plant, and 20% in the
on time. Kharyaga production-sharing agreement.
Speaking at SPIEF, Mikhelson warned that Authorities in the UK and Canada imposed
the launch date for the two of Arctic LNG-2’s two personal sanctions on Leonid Mikhelson in
phases may have to be revised, as Novatek had early April. Nevertheless, on April 21, Novatek’s
planned to use foreign-made turbines which are shareholders voted in favour of reelecting the
no longer an option under sanctions. The second businessman, a major shareholder in the com-
phase is currently scheduled for launch in 2024. pany, as their chairman of the board until May
Mikhelson also said there were no issues with 25, 2027. ™

Karachaganak partners to send more gas

to Russia's Orenburg plant

KAZAKHSTAN GAZPROM has agreed to ramp up the processing Karachaganak have relied on Russian gas pro-
of gas from the Karachaganak field in Kazakhstan cessing since its development in the late 1990s,
The Orenburg plant has at its plant in Orenburg, the company announced because Kazakhstan lacks sufficient capability of
been handling gas from on June 17 at the St Petersburg International Eco- its own. ™
Karachaganak since the nomic Forum (SPIEF).
field's start-up in the Gazprom has revised its contract with Kazakh
late 1990s. gas transport company QazaqGaz accordingly, it
said. Previously the partners had an agreement to
process 8.1bn cubic metres of gas from Karacha-
ganak in 2022, but the new deal covers an addi-
tional 570mn cubic metres of supply. The increase
in deliveries is scheduled from July 1, according
to Argus. In 2023, the volume of Kazakh gas will
increase again, to 9.33 bcm. And the two sides also
signed a memorandum on June 17 to eventually
raise this to 11 bcm annually.
The Karachaganak field lies in the Ural
region of Kazakhstan bordering Russia, and is
some 130 km away from the Orenburg plant.
Shell, Eni, Chevron and the other investors in

Week 25 22•June•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P15