2023-12-27 01:06:08
It’s a bolt from the blue for the gigantic Russian gas project in the Arctic, LNG 2. This Monday, December 25, foreign shareholders (French, Chinese and Japanese) announced they were suspending their participation in the program.
Will the LNG 2 project be able to export 20 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas each year? In any case, this is what was planned from next month. But that was without counting on a real twist in this key program of Russia’s strategy on the global LNG market (liquefied natural gas).
This Monday, December 25, three foreign investors, French, Chinese and Japanese, announced that they were suspending their participation. They invoke a “ force majeure “. It is in fact the direct consequence of international sanctions targeting Moscow. The latest decision is that of the United States and directly targeted the LNG 2 project.
According to Reuters, two major Chinese majors had nevertheless requested exemptions from the American government. Now they are withdrawing, as is a consortium of Japanese companies and TotalEnergies. They each accounted for 10% of the project. The French tanker had already withdrawn operationally in 2022 after the start of the war in Ukraine, but supply contracts continued to link it to the project.
Liquefied natural gas delivery delays
This latest development is therefore a huge blow for LNG 2 Arctic, 60% owned by Novatek, the largest Russian producer of liquefied natural gas.
This deposit could allow Moscow to increase its share of the global LNG market, from 8 to 20% by 2030. The Russian daily Kommersant believes that the withdrawal of foreign investors could lead to LNG 2 Arctic losing the long-term supply contracts it has already signed. The newspaper also mentions the need for Novatek to finance the project by its own means and to sell the gas on the spot market.
These setbacks inevitably delay deliveries. According to industry sources cited by Reuters, the first LNG tankers are now expected to set sail in the second quarter of next year at the earliest.
Also read: Siberian Force 2, the gas pipeline of great Russian hopes
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