Novatek News

The third and the last train of the Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia has been put on hold but the second train is likely to be installed, the head of stakeholder TotalEnergies' said.The liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the Russian Arctic has faced challenges from U.S. sanctions imposed on the project last November over the conflict in Ukraine, and subsequent force majeures by shareholders.At the end of 2023 Arctic LNG 2 started tentative production at its first train, which is yet to deliver a first cargo.

Russia energy infrastructure has been hit by drone attacks and fires in the past month, adding to uncertainty in global oil and gas markets already rocked by the conflict in the Middle East.Russia and Ukraine have targeted each other's energy infrastructure in strikes designed to disrupt supply lines and logistics and to demoralise their opponent as they try to get the edge in a nearly two-year-old war that shows no sign of ending.Following are recent major incidents at Russian oil facilities in the past month:* A Russian appointed official said on Jan.

Russian energy company Novatek said on Sunday it had been forced to suspend some operations at a huge Baltic Sea fuel export terminal due to a fire started by what Ukrainian media said was a drone attack.The giant Ust-Luga complex, located on the Gulf of Finland about 170 km (110 miles) west of St. Petersburg, is used to ship oil and gas products to international markets. It processes stable gas condensate - a type of light oil - into light and heavy naphtha, kerosene and diesel to be shipped by sea.It was not clear how long the disruption would last…

Foreign shareholders suspended participation in the Arctic LNG 2 project due to sanctions, renouncing their responsibilities for financing and for offtake contracts for the new Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, the daily Kommersant reported on Monday.The project, seen as a key element in Russia's drive to boost its LNG global market share to 20% by 2030 from 8%, was already facing difficulties due to U.S. sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine and a lack of gas carriers.China's state oil majors CNOOC  and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) each have a 10% stake in the project…

Russia is hoping its shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will offset a sharp fall in pipeline gas exports to Europe, but a shortage of gas tankers and sanctions hold back its plans, analysts and industry sources said.Russia wants to boost its share of the LNG market to 20% by 2030 from 8% now, but a force majeure declaration by top producer Novatek over LNG supplies from its future Arctic LNG 2 project due to sanctions shows the hurdles it faces.Novatek's announcement comes after the United States last month imposed sanctions on Arctic LNG 2…

The Biden administration is working closely with partner countries over sanctions on a Russian liquefied natural gas project in the Arctic as a January deadline looms on a wind down of transactions with the plant, a State Department spokesperson said on Wednesday.The U.S. imposed sanctions last week on the Arctic LNG-2 project in Russia as part of wide-ranging measures to punish Moscow for the war in Ukraine. The Office of Foreign Assets Control, part of the Treasury Department, also issued a general license that authorizes the wind down of transactions involving Arctic LNG-2, through Jan.

Japan will make sure its energy supplies are not affected by sanctions the United States recently imposed on the Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia in which it has a stake, Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Tuesday.Japan, the world's second-largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) buyer, relies on LNG as a transition fuel before it reaches carbon neutrality in 2050, and has supply contracts and stakes in projects globally to guarantee imports.The Arctic LNG 2 project is to be launched next month…

Japan will ensure stable and steady energy supply to the country even after the U.S. imposed fresh sanctions related to Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Tuesday.The Arctic LNG 2 project is operated by Russia's Novatek while Japanese trading company Mitsui & Co and state-owned Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) hold a combined 10% stake.Mitsui and JOGMEC are set to receive a combined 2 million metric tons of LNG per year from the project.The latest sanctions are part of several economic measures the U.S.…

Political pressure is building within the European Union to tackle the daunting challenge of closing a loophole in its efforts to stop using Russian fossil fuels: liquefied natural gas (LNG).In the year since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the EU has placed sanctions on seaborne oil and coal imports from Russia.It has drastically cut reliance on Russian pipeline gas, despite not imposing sanctions on the fuel. But at the same time, EU countries have increased their overall purchases of Russian LNG…

Qilak LNG plans to invest $5 billion in a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Alaska's North Slope to compete with Russia's Yamal project for Asian customers towards the end of this decade, its chief executive said. Major LNG importers such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are rethinking Russian supplies after sanctions on Moscow after it invaded Ukraine and more natural gas could be needed to produce lower emission and alternative fuels as nations try to reduce their carbon emissions.

Russian gas exports to Europe via pipelines plummeted to a post-Soviet low in 2022 as its largest customer cut imports due to the conflict in Ukraine and a major pipeline was damaged by mysterious blasts, Gazprom data  and Reuters calculations showed.The European Union, traditionally Russia's largest consumer for oil and gas, has for years spoken about cutting its reliance on Russian energy, but Brussels got serious after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February.State-controlled Gazprom…

A dispute between Israel and Lebanon over their maritime boundary has obstructed energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean and risks exacerbating tensions between two foes.After months of deadlock in U.S.-mediated talks, Beirut on Sunday warned against any activity in the disputed area, responding to the arrival of a vessel to develop a field for Israel. Lebanon has said the field in question, Karish, is in disputed waters. Israel denies this.Here's what you need to know about the standoff:WHAT'S AT STAKE?Gas - potentially a lot of it.Lebanon and Israel are located in the Levant Basin…

Britain froze the assets of Russia's Gazprombank and Alfa Bank, and the state-run shipping firm Sovcomflot FLOT.MM, in its latest round of sanctions announced on Thursday.They were among 59 individuals and entities added to the sanctions list which has been used to target Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine.Gazprombank is one of main channels for payments for Russian oil and gas.Alfa-Bank is one of Russia's top private lenders, controlled by Mikhail Fridman, who was sanctioned by Britain earlier this month…

Energy supplies originating from Russia were still being delivered to Britain on Friday after some dock workers at a terminal in southeast England sought to block a cargo in solidarity with Ukraine, ship-tracking data shows.Supplies of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe have been disrupted this week by uncertainty over whether ships can discharge cargoes at European ports after the imposition of sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine and a ban by British ports on Russian-linked ships.British union Unison has complained that its members working at the Isle of Grain LNG terminal did not want to accept Russian gas and called for tougher measures from the government.Britain on Tuesday banned from its ports all ships that are Russian owned…

Russian shipbuilder Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex on Tuesday held a keel laying ceremony for a new Arctic liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier ordered by compatriot shipowner PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group).The newbuild is the lead vessel in a series of 15 carriers ordered from Zvezda for servicing the Arctic LNG 2 project. She is the first-ever vessel of such dimensions, cargo capacity and icebreaking capabilities to be constructed at a Russian shipyard.The series' lead ship will be owned by SCF…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) on Tuesday announced it has ordered four new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers from South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (DSME) for delivery in 2024.The Japanese shipping company said it has signed time charter contracts for the four newbuilds with NOVATEK Gas & Power Asia Pte. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Russia's PAO NOVATEK.The 174,000-cubic-meter capacity newbuilds will be equipped with the "cutting-edge" MAN Energy Solutions engines, which offer improved fuel efficiency, MOL said.

TotalEnergies has signed a sale and purchase agreement with Novatek to acquire 10% of Arctic Transshipment LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Novatek, which owns and will operate two liquefied natural gas (LNG) transshipment terminals being built in the Murmansk and Kamchatka regions of Russia.These terminals will provide export logistics services, including to the Arctic LNG 2 project under construction, and will each initially include a 360,000 m3 floating storage unit (FSU) and two ship-to-ship transfer kits (STS).

A group of Russian maritime stakeholders have agreed to develop ship repair cluster in the country’s Far East.The trilateral agreement between PAO Sovcomflot, SMART LNG (a joint venture between PAO Sovcomflot and PAO NOVATEK) and Far Eastern Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Center (FESRC, a subsidiary of Rosneft) was signed by: Andrey Shishkin, CEO of FESRC and Vice-President for Energy, Localization and Innovation of Rosneft; Igor Tonkovidov, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sovcomflot, and Sergey Frank, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SMART LNG.

Japanese shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has signed a charter contract for a newbuilding ice-breaking tanker that will transport condensate from the Arctic LNG 2 Project on Russia’s Gydan Peninsula.The contract was signed by a MOL subsidiary with the project company, whose largest shareholder is Russia-based PAO NOVATEK. The vessel,  slated for delivery in 2024, will be constructed in China by Guangzhou Shipyard International Company, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC).

Russia plans to build its first batch of icebreakers that are powered by liquified natural gas, a top official said on Friday, returning to an idea that was put on hold.Russia has the world's only fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers. It is building up that fleet, hoping to develop the Northern Sea Route across its northern flank into an international shipping lane as climate change melts the ice."We are now returning to this topic (building LNG-powered icebreakers). I think that by the end of the year we will decide on the possible construction of two to four medium-sized icebreakers…

Italy's biggest banking group Intesa Sanpaolo could help fund Novatek's Arctic LNG 2 project even as some European governments show lukewarm support for the giant Russian gas project."We are studying the dossier ... though no decision has as yet been taken," Antonio Fallico, chairman of group unit Banca Intesa Russia, told Reuters on Wednesday.Fallico said the bank had been invited to look at the financing deal by SACE, the state-owned Italian export credit agency."If the bank decides this project does not breach our policy in some way we'll do it…

Metals miner Nornickel said it will participate in the design and building of Russia's first dual-fuel liquefied natural gas (LNG) and diesel icebreaker to prepare for more capacity in the environmentally sensitive Arctic region.Russia, which has a fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers, has long considered LNG-powered icebreaking ships to develop the Northeast Sea Route into an international shipping lane from Arctic waters.Nornickel, the world's largest palladium and nickel producer…

Russian gas company Novatek has signed heads of agreement with Glencore for the long-term supply of LNG from the Arctic LNG 2 project.The agreement, signed Wednesday at Saint-Petersburg International Economic Forum, established the key commercial terms for the long-term supply of more than of 0.5 million tons of LNG per year from the Arctic LNG 2 project. The LNG will be delivered to a number of locations in East Asia, Novatek said.Leonid Mikhelson, NOVATEK's Chairman of the Management…