Page 129 - bneIntelliNews monthly country report Russia May 2024

9.2 Major corporate news 9.2.1 Oil & gas corporate news
● Novatek
Russia’s biggest liquefied natural gas producer Novatek kept its major Arctic LNG 2 facility running last month despite US sanctions, but the project was operating well below capacity.
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The launch of Arctic LNG 2 in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, one of Russia’s flagship energy projects, will reportedly be further postponed. Additionally, the project may be scaled down entirely due to Russia’s lack of access to foreign-made ice-class tankers. The project, which was sanctioned by the U.S. last year, was still looking to start deliveries in the first quarter of 2024. Novatek expected to complete the second gravity-based production unit of the project after Chinese-made modules arrived in the Murmansk Region port of Belokamenka this week.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who oversees Russia’s energy industry and announced the launch of the first stage of Arctic LNG 2 in late March, had earlier said that the project’s main issue was the unavailability of tankers. On April 2, Reuters reported that the project had suspended gas liquefaction after reducing it threefold in February. Novatek recently lost an opportunity to participate in another already functional LNG project, Sakhalin 2, when government-owned Gazprom took over Shell’s shares in the project instead.
Novatek announced another Arctic LNG project last year. It is planned to be built in the Murmansk Region, where the company has access to an ice-free port and its production units are currently assembled. However, the latest developments with the Arctic LNG 2 project show how sanctions could complicate Russia’s plans to increase its share on the global LNG market and further the industrial development of the Northern Sea Route, which is also a priority for the Russian government. LNG projects inside Russia, such as LNG factories in the Republic of Sakha, are much smaller than Novatek’s flagship projects and also face transit difficulties of their own.
● Other
9.2.2 Automotive corporate news
The Bell has published a major investigation into Alexander Varshavsky
— a car dealership owner who now controls the Russian assets of
129 RUSSIA Country Report May 2024 www.intellinews.com