Page 5 - FSUOGM Week 50 2020

FSUOGM COMMENTARY FSUOGM

of key construction works are now complete: Demand for LNG as a bunkering fuel is also
the ship’s hull has been assembled, and energy growing in Russia. State-owned shipowner
facilities have been installed, as have fuel tanks. Sovcomflot now has six LNG-fuelled oil tank-
The next stage is going to be launching Gazprom ers in operation, in addition to its 15-strong
Neft’s LNG bunker at sea.” fleet of LNG tankers that also use the gas in
their engines. Other Russian cargo handlers are
Growth prospects similarly considering switching to the fuel. The
While Gazprom Neft generates most its reve- government has also launched a programme to
nues from its oil business, the company has said increase the number of Russian ports that offer
it wants to build up its gas operations as well. In bunkering services.
addition to LNG bunkering, it is also looking to The long-term prospects for LNG as a bun-
develop projects to commercialise gas at its Arc- kering fuel depend greatly on how the shipping
tic oilfields, and like its parent company Gaz- industry chooses to address its emissions.
prom, it is also marketing LNG and compressed LNG easily clears today’s IMO emissions
natural gas (CNG) as vehicle fuels in Russia. standards. It releases 99% less SOX emis-
Gazprom Neft has said before it envisages sions compared with high-sulphur fuel oil
eventually having a fleet of LNG bunkering (HSFO), and 80% less NOX, 25% less CO2
vessels, primarily working in northern Europe. and 99% fewer fine particles. It is also con-
Signalling its growing interest in the sector, the siderably cheaper than other emerging new
company became the first Russian oil firm to join fuels and has been proved to be commer-
the international Society for Gas Marine Fuel cially viable, available and scalable, its advo-
(SGMF) in July. cates argue.
Dovetailing with Gazprom Neft’s plans, Gaz- However, there are concerns that LNG could
prom intends to build several small-scale LNG fall foul of stricter rules on shipping emissions
production plants across Russia that would that might be brought into force in the future.
provide a source of bunkering fuel. The most One particular risk comes from the EU plan-
advanced of these projects is the 1.5mn tpy Por- ning to impose its CO2 emissions trading sys-
tovaya plant on the Baltic Sea, due to start up in tem to shipping, which would raise the cost of
2021. It has also proposed building facilities on LNG-fuelled transport. This could spur more
the Black Sea and in the Far East, which would shipowners to invest in vessels that use cleaner
enable Gazprom Neft to branch out into other fuels such as hydrogen, ammonia and methanol
bunkering markets. instead. ™

Week 50 16•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P5