Russia’s latest liquefied gas project won’t be able to start sending gas until March due to US sanctions
Russia's latest LNG export project, Arctic 2 LNG developed by Novatek, will not be able to start shipments before March because it is still waiting for at least one icebreaking tanker which is still in Korea South, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported Thursday.
According to early indications, Arctic 2 LNG from Russia's leading LNG producer and exporter Novatek could start shipping the first cargoes to customers this month. US sanctions, however, are blocking the project's start and slowing its progress as buyers refuse to accept cargoes, anonymous sources who spoke to Kommersant said.
The first cargo will depend on when the first Arc7 icebreaker from South Korea's Hanwha Ocean shipyard arrives at the Russian LNG site on the Gydan Peninsula, sources familiar with the situation told Kommersant. The tanker is still in Korea and even if it started its journey to Russia now, it would take a month to reach the destination, the sources added. In the Arctic Sea we cannot ship before late spring without ice-repair ships.
US sanctions on Arctic LNG 2 have upended Novatek's plans to start production and export timelines.
In November, the US State Department designated ARCTIC LNG 2 LLC, the operator of the Arctic LNG 2 project, as part of additional sanctions against Russia “to further target individuals and entities associated with the effort Russia's war and other malign activities."
This has led some minority shareholders of the project, including France's TotalEnergies, to declare force majeure on future deliveries.
Novatek holds a 60% stake in Arctic LNG 2. Other shareholders include China's CNOOC and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), TotalEnergies and Japanese firms Mitsui Group and Jogmec.
Potential cancellations of contracts to build icebreaking tankers and U.S. sanctions on Arctic LNG 2 could hamper Russia's plans to boost LNG sales now that its pipeline route to Europe is largely disrupted.
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The article Russia's latest liquefied gas project won't be able to start sending gas before March due to US sanctions comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/lultimo-progetto-per-il-gas-liquefatto-russo-non-potra-iniziare-a-inviare-gas-prima-di-marzo-a-casua-delle-sanzioni-usa/ on Fri, 09 Feb 2024 07:00:42 +0000.