Yamal LNG (russian: ОАО "Ямал СПГ") is a joint venture based around a
liquefied natural gas plant
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...
located in
Sabetta
Sabetta (russian: Сабетта) is the location of a port and liquified natural gas (LNG) plant—Yamal LNG—on the Yamal Peninsula, in the north of Russia along the Northern Sea Route.
Location
The site chosen for the port is on the western s ...
at the north-east of the
Yamal Peninsula
The Yamal Peninsula (russian: полуостров Ямал, poluostrov Yamal) is located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of northwest Siberia, Russia. It extends roughly 700 km (435 mi) and is bordered principally by the Kara ...
, northwest
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. In addition to the LNG plant, the project includes production at the
Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye gas field
The South-Tambeyskoye gas field is a natural gas field located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. It was discovered in 1974. The field is operated by Yamal LNG, controlled by Novatek. It produces natural gas and condensates.
The field was di ...
, and the transport infrastructure, including the Sabetta seaport and airport.
History
Yamal LNG project was proposed when the company with the same name and controlled by
Gennady Timchenko
Gennady Nikolayevich Timchenko (russian: Геннадий Николаевич Тимченко, ''also spelled'' Guennadi Timtchenko; born 9 November 1952) is a Russian oligarch and billionaire businessman. He founded and owns the private inv ...
and Pyotr Kolbin got a license for the
Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye gas field
The South-Tambeyskoye gas field is a natural gas field located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. It was discovered in 1974. The field is operated by Yamal LNG, controlled by Novatek. It produces natural gas and condensates.
The field was di ...
in 2005.
Novatek
Novatek (russian: ПАО «НОВАТЭК», , ) is Russia's second-largest natural gas producer (behind Gazprom), and the seventh-largest publicly traded company globally by natural gas production volume. The company was originally known as OAO F ...
took control of Yamal LNG in 2009.
[
] Another project named Yamal LNG was proposed by
Gazprom
PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...
. In November 2008, Gazprom announced that it prepared a list of potential partners for the LNG plant of the
Yamal project
Yamal project, also referred to as Yamal megaproject, is a long-term plan to exploit and bring to the markets the vast natural gas reserves in the Yamal Peninsula, Russia. Administratively, the project is located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Ok ...
. Although the list was not disclosed, Gazprom indicated that
ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
and
ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational corporation engaged in hydrocarbon exploration and production. It is based in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas.
The company has operations in 15 countries and has production in ...
were included on the list.
Also
Royal Dutch Shell
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...
,
Repsol YPF
Repsol S.A.
El Nuevo Herald, 2012-05-31[Originally an init ...]
and
Petro-Canada
Petro-Canada is a retail and wholesale marketing brand subsidiary of Suncor Energy. Until 1991, it was a federal Crown corporation (a state-owned enterprise). In August 2009, Petro-Canada merged with Suncor Energy, with Suncor shareholders rece ...
were mentioned as potential partners.
[
] In October 2010, the Novatek's project was chosen by the Russian government as a pilot project. The groundbreaking ceremony for the port construction was held in July 2012;
[
] however, construction of the port itself began in 2013.
[
]
As of 7 April 2014, the Yamal LNG OJSC is Novatek (60% stake), China's CNPC (20% stake) and France's Total (20% stake).
In December 2014, amid the
2014–15 Russian financial crisis, the Russian government gave a 150 billion rouble subsidy to the project.
The commercial operation of the port and first
LNG train (LNG purification facility) were launched on 8 December 2017 by starting loading the first
LNG carrier
An LNG carrier is a tank ship designed for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG).
History
The first LNG carrier ''Methane Pioneer'' () carrying , classed by Bureau Veritas, left the Calcasieu River on the Louisiana Gulf coast on 25 January ...
named after the late CEO of Total
Christophe de Margerie
Christophe de Margerie (, 6 August 1951 – 20 October 2014) was a French businessman. He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of French oil corporation Total S.A.
Early life
Christophe de Margerie was born in Mareuil-sur-Lay-Dis ...
. The loading was ceremonially launched by president
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
in the presence of Saudi Arabia's energy minister
Khalid al-Falih
Khalid A. Al-Falih ( ar, خالد الفالح '; born 1960) is Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia since 25 February 2020. He served as Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia and chairman of Saudi Aramco. He also has previously served as the S ...
.
[
]
According to Novatek on 22 October 2019, the natural gas reserves in the
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
The Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (YaNAO; russian: Яма́ло-Не́нецкий автоно́мный о́круг (ЯНАО), ; yrk, Ямалы-Ненёцие автономной ӈокрук, ) or Yamalia (russian: Ямалия) is a fed ...
represent 80% of Russia's natural gas and 15% of the world's natural gas supply.
In 2021, Yamal LNG was ranked no. 30 among 120 oil, gas, and mining companies involved in resource extraction north of the Arctic Circle in the Arctic Environmental Responsibility Index (AERI). The plant is expected to produce a total of 926 billion cubic metres of liquefied natural gas from the
South Tambey field and is considered by some to be the 'crown jewel' of the Northern Sea Route.
Technical description
The project cost is US$27 billion.
The Yamal LNG plant will have three trains with total capacity of 16.5 million tonnes of
liquefied natural gas
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...
per year when fully operational.
[ The first train is operational at the end of 2017 and the full 3 train capacity is to be achieved by 2021.] A second LNG Plant, named Artic LNG 2, is also proposed at a site to east near the Gyda Peninsula
The Gyda Peninsula () is a geographical feature of the Siberian coast in the Kara Sea. It takes its name from the river Gyda, that flows on the peninsula. It is roughly 400 km long and 360 km wide. This wide peninsula lies between t ...
, across the river Ob estuary from Sabetta
Sabetta (russian: Сабетта) is the location of a port and liquified natural gas (LNG) plant—Yamal LNG—on the Yamal Peninsula, in the north of Russia along the Northern Sea Route.
Location
The site chosen for the port is on the western s ...
The plant was designed and commissioned by consortium of Technip
Technip S.A. was a company that carried out project management, engineering and construction for the energy industry; in 2017 it completed a merger with FMC Technologies to form TechnipFMC. Its headquarters were in the 16th arrondissement of Pa ...
and JGC Corporation
JGC Holdings Corporation, formerly , and before that , is a global engineering company headquartered in Yokohama, Japan.
The company was founded on 25 October 1928. In 1976, it changed its original name from Japan Gasoline Co. to JGC Corp. In ...
, and Chiyoda.[
] In addition to the LNG plant, the project includes the construction of a seaport, airport and power plant.[ The power plant will be built by ]Technopromexport
Technopromexport (russian: Технопромэкспорт) is a Russian engineering company that builds energy facilities in Russia and abroad, including hydropower, thermal, geo-thermal and diesel power plants, power lines and electricity sub ...
and its turbines will be supplied by Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
. The power plant will have capacity of 380 MW(during ISO conditions) across its 8 turbines and it is to be operational by 2018.[
] Construction of the port facilities started in September 2013.
The LNG plant is supplied from the Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye gas field
The South-Tambeyskoye gas field is a natural gas field located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. It was discovered in 1974. The field is operated by Yamal LNG, controlled by Novatek. It produces natural gas and condensates.
The field was di ...
.[ The main export market for LNG would be China.][
] LNG would be shipped to Asian markets through the Northeast Passage
The Northeast Passage (abbreviated as NEP) is the shipping route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia. The western route through the islands of Canada is accordingly called the Northwest Passage (N ...
.[
] Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd ( ko, 대우조선해양; abbreviated DSME) is one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea, along with Hyundai and Samsung.
History
On 21 February 2011, the A. P. Moller-Maersk Group (Ma ...
is contracted to build up to sixteen Arc7 double acting ice-class gas tanker
A gas carrier, gas tanker, LPG carrier, or LPG tanker is a ship designed to transport LPG, LNG, CNG, or liquefied chemical gases in bulk.
Types
Fully pressurized gas carrier
The seaborne transport of liquefied gases began in 1934 when a maj ...
s for the project.[
] Tankers will be chartered and operated by Sovcomflot
Sovcomflot (russian: ПАО «Совкомфлот», ПАО «Современный коммерческий флот», , Modern Commercial Fleet). Sovcomflot is Russia's largest shipping company, and one of the global leaders in the maritime ...
.[
]
A 180 km railway line is being built, connecting Bovanenkovo
The Bovanenkovo gas field is a natural gas field located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. It was discovered in 1972 and developed by Gazprom. It began production in 2012 and produces natural gas and Natural gas condensate, condensates. The ...
to Sabetta.
Ownership
The project is developed by JSC Yamal LNG. Novatek
Novatek (russian: ПАО «НОВАТЭК», , ) is Russia's second-largest natural gas producer (behind Gazprom), and the seventh-largest publicly traded company globally by natural gas production volume. The company was originally known as OAO F ...
owns 50.1% stake in the company while Total S.A.
TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and ...
and CNPC
The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) () is a major national oil and gas corporation of China and one of the largest integrated energy groups in the world. Its headquarters are in Dongcheng District, Beijing. CNPC was ranked fourth ...
own 20% each with China's Silk Road Fund
The Silk Road Fund ( zh, s=丝路基金, t=, p=) is a state-owned investment fund of the Chinese government to foster increased investment in countries along the One Belt, One Road, an economic development initiative primarily covering Eura ...
has signed agreement to purchase 9.9% stake.[
] General director of the company was Gleb Luxemburg [
]
and from September 2014 Evgeny Kot has been appointed the CEO of Yamal LNG.[
]
Icebreaker LNG carriers
Yamal LNG has commissioned 15 LNG icebreaker/tanker ships to export its gas. Each icebreaker/tanker is designed to operate year-round from the Yamal peninsula and to break ice up to 2.5 meters thick. The ships are leased by Yamal LNG from four companies: Sovcomflot
Sovcomflot (russian: ПАО «Совкомфлот», ПАО «Современный коммерческий флот», , Modern Commercial Fleet). Sovcomflot is Russia's largest shipping company, and one of the global leaders in the maritime ...
, one ship; MOL, three ships; Dynagas, five ships; and Teekay
Teekay specialise in shipping crude oil.
History
Teekay was founded in 1973 by Torben Karlshoej, then a 31 year old Danish ship broker who had emigrated to the United States at the age of 20 and mostly worked on farms. The company was named "TK ...
, six ships. The tankers were designed in Finland by Aker Arctic Technology Inc. and built at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd ( ko, 대우조선해양; abbreviated DSME) is one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea, along with Hyundai and Samsung.
History
On 21 February 2011, the A. P. Moller-Maersk Group (Ma ...
(DSME) shipyard in South Korea.
The first icebreaker, ''Christophe de Margerie
Christophe de Margerie (, 6 August 1951 – 20 October 2014) was a French businessman. He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of French oil corporation Total S.A.
Early life
Christophe de Margerie was born in Mareuil-sur-Lay-Dis ...
'', traversed from Norway to South Korea across the Northern Sea Route in 19 days in August 2017.
When ice precludes shipping along the Northern Sea Route
The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (russian: Се́верный морско́й путь, ''Severnyy morskoy put'', shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route officially defined by Russian legislation as lying east of Nov ...
, then the Fluxys
Fluxys is a Belgium-based company, mainly acting as a natural gas transmission system operator. In 2004, it employed around 850 people and its infrastructure comprised about of pipelines and a terminal in Zeebrugge, Belgium. The company is list ...
terminal at Zeebrugge
Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeeb ...
, Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, will serve Russia as the LNG
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...
port for the Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...
region.[
]
Ships
In service as of October 2019:
*''Christophe de Margerie'', Sovcomflot
*''Boris Vilkitsky'', Dynagas
*''Fedor Litke'', Dynagas
*''Eduard Toll'', Teekay
*''Vladimir Rusanov'', MOL
*''Vladimir Vize'', COSCO Shipping and MOL
*''Rudolf Samoylovich'', Teekay
*''Nikolay Yevgenov'', Teekay
*''Georgiy Brusilov'', Dynagas
*''Boris Davydov'', Dynagas
*''Nikolay Zubov'', Dynagas
*''Vladimir Voroni'', Teekay
*''Nikolay Urvantsev'', MOL
*''Georgiy Ushakov'', Teekay
*''Yakov Gakkel'', Teekay
United States sanctions beginning September 2019
Following the 14 September 2019 attack by Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
on Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
n oil fields at Khurais
Khurais oil field ( ar, حقل خريص) is an oil field in Saudi Arabia that went online on June 10, 2009, adjacent to the world's largest, the Ghawar trend. The Khurais field, with an area of 2,890 km2 and 127 km long, is located abo ...
and Abqaiq
Abqaiq ( ar, بقيق, Biqayq) is a Saudi Aramco gated community and oil-processing facility located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, located in the desert 60 km southwest of the Dhahran-Dammam-Khobar metropolitan area, and north o ...
(''Biqayq'' in Arabic) during the 2019–2021 Persian Gulf crisis, the United States imposed sanctions under executive order 13846 against several companies including Cosco Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Seaman and Ship Management Company Ltd and the Cosco Shipping Tanker Dalian (大連中遠海運油品運輸有限公司) which are two Cosco Shipping Company subsidiaries that are supporting LNG shipments from Sabetta
Sabetta (russian: Сабетта) is the location of a port and liquified natural gas (LNG) plant—Yamal LNG—on the Yamal Peninsula, in the north of Russia along the Northern Sea Route.
Location
The site chosen for the port is on the western s ...
. As of late September 2019, the Joint Venture ''TC LNG'' between the Cosco Shipping Tanker Dalian company (50% stake) and the Canadian firm Teekay
Teekay specialise in shipping crude oil.
History
Teekay was founded in 1973 by Torben Karlshoej, then a 31 year old Danish ship broker who had emigrated to the United States at the age of 20 and mostly worked on farms. The company was named "TK ...
is the China LNG Shipping Ltd (CLNG) which has more than one third of Sabetta's LNG ice fleet, six ARC7 LNG tankers: ''Eduard Toll'' (russian: «Эдуард Толль»), ''Rudolf Samoilovich'' (russian: «Рудольф Самойлович»), ''Nikolay Evgenov'' (russian: «Николай Евгенов»), ''Vladimir Voronin'' (russian: «Владимир Воронин») all of which are operating, ''Georgy Ushakov'' (russian: «Георгий Ушаков») which is going to Sabetta after sea trials, and ''Yakov Gakkel'' (russian: «Яков Гаккель») which is under sea trials at a South Korean shipyard. Also affected are five ARC7 tankers which Dynagas will supply in a partnership between Sinotrans&CSC and CLNG (25.5% stake), as well as three ARC7 tankers from a joint venture between the Cosco subsidiary Shanghai LNG and Japan's MOL (株式会社商船三井). However, these former five and later three ARC7 tankers are not directly sanctioned but US Office of Foreign Assets Control
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy ob ...
(OFAC) rules require caution to be exercised in the former. Of the fifteen ARC7 tankers operating out of Sabetta, only Sovcomflot's ''Christophe de Margerie'' is not affected by the sanctions. Although these ships have been serviced at Honningsvåg, Norway, this will be phased out and future LNG tanker shipments along the Northern Sea Route
The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (russian: Се́верный морско́й путь, ''Severnyy morskoy put'', shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route officially defined by Russian legislation as lying east of Nov ...
may occur between Murmansk
Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...
and Kamchatka
The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and wes ...
in Russia coastal waters. On 30 January 2020, the United States lifted sanctions on Cosco Shipping Tanker (Dalian) and its TC LNG.
References
External links
*
* https://www.tv4play.se/program/nyheterna/11985830
*
{{Use dmy dates, date=October 2019
Companies based in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
Energy in Siberia
Energy infrastructure in Russia
Industry in the Arctic
JGC Corporation
Liquefied natural gas plants
Natural gas companies of Russia