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suppliers involved in the project. This seemed to suggest that Russia’s manufacturing capability fell short of what was needed to get the technology running well.
Nevertheless, Novatek announced in June 2023 that it had obtained a Russian patent for an improved technology known as Arctic Mix. The company described the development of the technology as an “important step towards” the localisation of liquefaction technology in Russia, adding that it would use domestically manufactured equipment. Importantly, it said that the technology could be used for liquefaction trains with capacities of up to 6mn tpy. This is not much smaller than the 6.6mn tpy planned capacity of Arctic LNG-2’s trains.
Finland plans to ban Russian LNG from 2025. Finland plans to ban imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) from next year, Finnish Environment and Climate Minister Kai Mykkanen told newspaper Helsingin Sanomat on Jan. 5.
The US leapfrogged Qatar and Australia to become the largest exporter of LNG in 2023 but it set to further its lead as several new export-oriented LNG trains come online in the next few years and win more market share for the burgeoning US LNG export business.
Multiple new export projects will reach a final investment decision (FID) in 2024 and others are nearing completion. Analysts worry that the expansion will add to a growing glut of LNG that has recently been depressing prices. is expected to contribute to alleviating the supply glut and addressing persistently low prices in the domestic market.
The US was the standout in global LNG supply growth in 2023, Alex Munton, director of global gas and LNG research at consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group told Reuters, with an increase to 8.6mn tonnes leaving US terminals in December, reports Reuters. Qatar was the largest LNG exporter in 2022 and Australia the second largest that year, US government data shows.
Full year exports from the US in 2023 rose 14.7% to 88.9mn tonnes driven largely by the return to full production of the Freeport LNG plant that had suffered a fire in 2022, and as other facilities increased processing efficiency. US shipments in 2023 compared to 77.5mn tonnes in 2022
But by the end of 2023, production surged again by approximately 143 tonnes per year (20bn cubic feet per day) of new US LNG capacity will either be operational or under construction.
The US rise in LNG exports has been driven by an energy crisis in Europe in 2022 when Russian piped gas deliveries were greatly reduced after the destruction of the Nord Stream 1&2 pipelines in September 2022.
116 RUSSIA Country Report February 2024 www.intellinews.com