Novatek's Murmansk LNG Project to Initially Have Two Lines Per Year

Russian natural gas giant Novatek's Murmansk LNG project is expected to have two lines of 6.8 million tonnes per year each, draft project documentation seen by Reuters showed on Monday.

Construction of the Murmansk LNG project in Russia's Arctic is scheduled for 2027-2030, the documentation showed.

According to the draft project, the annual loading volume is projected to be 3.4 million tonnes in 2028, rising to 6.8 million tonnes in 2029. From 2030 onwards, the project anticipates a sustained loading rate of 13.6 million tonnes per year.

Novatek is Russia's largest LNG producer.

The Murmansk LNG liquefied natural gas export terminal is due to be built on the shore of the Kola Bay near Murmansk and the village of Belokamenka, home to Novatek's large-tonnage offshore structure construction plant.

The draft documentation also indicated that the Murmansk LNG project has the potential to expand with a third line between 2030 and 2033, increasing its overall capacity to 20.4 million tonnes per year.

(Reuters - Reporting and writing by Oksana Kobzeva; editing by Andrew Osborn)