Page 145 - RusRPTOct22
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     Kovykta field will begin to flow in the Power of Siberia gas pipeline before the end of the year. The holding has also already begun to develop design and estimate documentation for the Far East gas supply route to China.
Gazprom and the government of the Sakhalin Region have signed an agreement on construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in the region, head of the region Valery Limarenko said in a statement on his Telegram channel on September 8. "LNG will come to the Kuril Islands next year. We have signed an agreement with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller in the framework of the Eastern Economic Forum. It envisages construction of an LNG plant in Sakhalin," Limarenko said. He added that the gas supplies to the Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands will fully cover demand by 2026. Gazprom also signed an agreement to elaborate feasibility of an oil refinery construction on Sakhalin in order to ensure that regional demand for jet kerosene, gasoline and diesel fuel is met.
Gazprom Neft plans to raise its oil refining by 7% in 2022 as compared with the pre-pandemic year of 2019 to a record of more than 41mn tonnes, Oleg Vedernikov, director of the company’s oil and gas refining directorate, said. “In 2022, we plan to reach a record amount of refining at the Russian refineries of the company of more than 41mn tonnes. It is a 7% increase as compared with the pre-pandemic year of 2019. The growth necessary for the market will be ensured by upgrade projects, including the Euro+ facility of the Moscow refinery and the deep refining unit of the Omsk refinery,” he said. In January–June 2022, oil refining at Gazprom Neft grew by 3% on the year, he said without disclosing absolute figures.
Uniper considers legal options after losing EUR12.3bn in 1H22, reports Reuters. Uniper blames the losses, at least in part, on Gazprom’s reduction of exports via the Nord Stream-1 pipeline from June. The suit would be pursued in the Stockholm Arbitration Court, the venue cited in Gazprom’s export contracts for the resolution of contract-related disputes.
Gazprom’s force major announcement is likely to be tested. We think that Uniper will likely ask the court to reject Gazprom’s declaration of force maj€on 14 July, which it had backdated to 14 June, when flows on Nord Stream first began to decline due to claims of technical problems with turbines. Uniper, which is Germany's largest importer of Russian gas, formally rejected the claim as unjustified at the time. Such a move is not surprising, given the amount of losses caused by Europe’s worst energy crisis in memory, and given the primary role that gas – particularly the large reduction in Russian supplies – has played in that crisis.
The scope of potential rewards is difficult to estimate, but “billions” is probably a safe assumption. There are two caveats to that, though. First, decisions by the Stockholm Arbitration Court are generally never handed down quickly, so it
 145 RUSSIA Country Report October 2022 www.intellinews.com
 



























































































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