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Sakhalin-1 partners take decision on LNG plant
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
RUSSIA’S Rosneft and its partners at the Sakha- lin-1 oil and gas venture have taken a decision on building an LNG export plant, the company’s head Igor Sechin has said.
Sakhalin-1 operates three oilfields off the east coast of Sakhalin Island that also contain sizeable but undeveloped gas resources. Rosneft is joined at the project by US major ExxonMobil, Japan’s Sodeco and India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL).
“This year, shareholders made a decision to build our own LNG plant in De Kastri,” Sechin was quoted as saying at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in a company statement.
It is unclear whether the Rosneft head was referring to an official final investment decision (FID) having been taken.
De Kastri, a port on the shore of Khabarovsk on the Russian mainland, is already the site of an export terminal for Sakhalin-1’s oil. According to Sechin, the single-train LNG terminal would have a 6.2mn tonne per year (tpy) capacity and could supply super-chilled gas to Japan.
“Its products will be much in demand in Japan due to the geographical proximity of the two countries,” he said.
Rosneft has long sought to establish itself as an LNG producer, joining its domestic
competitors Gazprom and Novatek, the respec- tive operators of the Yamal LNG and Sakhalin-2 liquefaction terminals. The Sakhalin-1 partners have discussed the development of their own plant for years, but progress stalled amid con- cerns that there was not enough gas to make the plan feasible. Rosneft also looked at selling Sakhalin-1’s gas to Gazprom instead, to support a third Sakhalin-2 train, but the pair were unable to agree on a price for supplies.
Early designs for the De Kastri plant were completed last year, and Exxon’s Sakhalin subsidiary Exxon Neftegaz estimates its cost at $6.9bn. A further $1.6bn in upstream and $1.3bn in midstream investments would also be required.™
Iran, Saudi Arabia vie for India’s affections
SOUTH ASIA
POLICY
MIDDLE Eastern rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia have expressed their commitment to supply- ing India with oil and gas as they vie to deepen their relationships with the world’s third largest energy consumer.
Iranian Ambassador to India Ali Chegini urged New Delhi on September 9 to follow in China’s footsteps and defy US sanctions on its oil and financial sectors.
“If India wants energy security, it should look at a stable source [of supply] like Iran,” Indian financial daily Mint quoted Chegini as saying. Indian oil importers stopped buying from Iran once the US’ sixth-month waiver on sanctions expired on May 2.
Chegini, who was speaking to the Indian Association of Foreign Affairs Correspond- ents in New Delhi, added that China had
agreed to invest $280bn in Iran’s energy sec- tor. Chinese companies are reportedly set to get priority in oil and gas project tenders in exchange for this investment.
“We are ready to have the same agreement as with China, with India, maybe even more than that,” Chegini said.
The ambassador’s comments were not with- out criticism, however,
Chegini noted that Indian efforts to develop the port of Chabahar were lag- ging when compared with those of Chinese companies working on the port of Gwadar in Pakistan. Chabahar acts as a gateway to Afghanistan and Central Asia that will allow India to bypass Pakistan. Moreover, it also acts as a counter to China’s growing regional influence through Gwadar.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 36 11•September•2019