Novatek Ships First LNG Cargo To China Via Arctic

Novatek Gas and Power Asia, wholly owned subsidiary of Russia’s largest independent natural gas producer Novatek, shipped a cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced from the Yamal LNG project to China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).

The LNG cargo was delivered to Fujian LNG Terminal in China via the Northern Sea Route (NSR) by an Arc7 ice-class LNG carrier in 20 days, completing the NSR part of the journey in 7.5 days.

A release from the natural gas producers quoted Leonid Mikhelson, Chairman as saying: "We expanded our customer base in China by shipping our first cargo of LNG to CNOOC. This shipment also represented our first cargo along the Northern Sea Route via the Eastern direction in November, essentially towards the end of the seasonal navigation period."

Leonid added: "The LNG cargo required no ice-breaking support and was shipped to its final destination in a very short period of time at a commercially viable speed, once again confirming the effectiveness of our logistical model allowing for competitive LNG deliveries to the key consuming markets of the Asian-Pacific Region.”

PAO Novatek entered the global gas market by successfully launching the Yamal LNG project in 2017. It is producing liquefied natural gas at its Yamal LNG project in the Russian Arctic with two trains operational and the third currently undergoing commissioning. The third train with a capacity of 5.5 million tonnes per year is expected to be launched by the end of this year.

The Company’s upstream activities are concentrated mainly in the prolific Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region, which is the world’s largest natural gas producing area and accounts for approximately 80% of Russia’s natural gas production and approximately 15% of the world’s gas production.