Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project almost 40% complete, on track for launch in 2023

Russia’s project to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the resource-rich Arctic region, Arctic LNG 2, is 39% complete and will be launched as planned, gas producer Novatek has announced.

The CEO of Russia's biggest independent energy company, Leonid Mikhelson, revealed on Friday how construction of the project had progressed. He said that the first train of Arctic LNG 2 is 53% ready and is scheduled to start operations in two years.

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The Arctic LNG 2 facility on the Gydan Peninsula is Novatek’s second plant in the Arctic region. It includes construction of three LNG trains, with a total production capacity of 19.8 million tons per year. As of the end of 2020, the Arctic LNG 2 project was about one-third complete, while the first train was roughly 46% finished.

Meanwhile, the already-operating Yamal LNG Artic project is preparing to launch its fourth and final train. It is expected to be put into operation in two to three weeks, according to Mikhelson. The annual capacity of the LNG plant is around 17.4 million tons. Since its launch in 2017, some 50 million tons of LNG have been shipped from the facility. Last year alone, Yamal LNG produced 18.8 million tons of LNG, accounting for more than 5% of the global LNG market.

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Novatek owns the majority stake in both LNG projects, with minority stakes held by foreign companies. The list of foreign investors includes French oil and gas company Total, Chinese firms CNPC and CNOOC, and the Japanese consortium of Mitsui and JOGMEC.

Russia aims to triple its LNG production capacity to 140 million tons by 2035. It also wants to boost its share in the rapidly expanding global LNG market.

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