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RF President Vladimir Putin had a working meeting with Leonid Mikhelson, Chairman of the Management Board of Novatek. They discussed the company’s performance in 2020, current activities and development plans, the Kremlin press office reports.
Mikhelson briefed the President on the implementation of the Arctic LNG 2 project and the creation of the Offshore Superfacility Construction Yard (OSCY), as well as on other projects.
According to Mikhelson, the company’s flagship project, Yamal LNG, is developing consistently and has already exceeded design capacity by 14%. ‘Last year, we produced 50 million tons of LNG in the period after the launch of the project. We account for 5 percent of global LNG production,’ he said.
Mikhelson reminded of the unique voyages along the Northern Sea Route made together with Sovcomflot and Rosatom in January and February this year. He described them as ‘another step, possibly even two more steps towards year-round use of the Northern Sea Route’. He said Novatek is discussing the possibility of launching year-round navigation in 2023/2024 with Rosatomflot, Rosatom’s nuclear icebreaker fleet operator.
Speaking about the LNG terminal projects, Mikhelson said that in late 2022 and early 2023, the transit terminals on Kamchatka and in Murmansk will become operational. ‘The first terminal will have a capacity of 10 million tonnes. About twenty billion came from the federal budget and Novatek added more than 60 billion’, he added.
‘Despite COVID-19 and three very difficult months, we did not fall behind schedule with our Arctic LNG 2 project,’ Mikhelson continued. ‘Our initial plan was that the first line would be launched in 2023 and the second in 2024. Since we have two docks, I will speak about that later, the third line was to be launched in 2026. I think, as it is today, the lines will be launched in 2023, 2024 and 2025, respectively. This is 19.8 million tonnes.’
Novatek’s Chairman also said the designed of the LNG tankers commissioned at the Zvezda Shipyard has been changed. ‘It is only 1.2 m narrower, and the prow configuration is different. The speed in 1.5-metre-thick ice is 1.6 knots higher,’ he explained.
