NOVATEK suspended production at the Arctic LNG-2 project due to sanctions and a shortage of tankers, kommersant.ru reports.
The main problem that NOVATEK faced during production is the shortage of tankers for the transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
In February, it was reported that the company could not receive three gas carriers from the Korean Hanwha Ocean shipyard, since their customers were Sovcomflot structures that had fallen under US sanctions. The delivery of three more tankers was delayed due to a shortage of labor.
Gas production at Arctic LNG-2 declined sharply in January and February 2024 amid delays in LNG shipments. Last year, NOVATEK increased production ahead of the launch of the project, but in January this year it decreased to 250 million cubic meters, and in February to 83 million cubic meters.
Arctic LNG-2 is NOVATEK's second major LNG export project. On November 2, 2023, it came under US sanctions, which imply a ban on all operations with Arctic LNG-2.
In December, NOVATEK warned customers about force majeure related to supplies from the project. After that, the foreign shareholders of Arctic LNG-2, such as French TotalEnergies, Chinese CNPC and CNOOC, as well as a consortium of Japanese Mitsui and JOGMEC, refused to finance and fulfill offtake contracts for LNG.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished
