A new joint venture, which is to be established by the two companies, will conduct all project preparations, among them the elaboration of project documentation, construction plans and field development programs, a press release from Gazprom informs.
Gazprom is likely to get a 75 percent take of the new company, while Novatek will get the remaining 25 percent.
The agreement, which was signed on Thursday, includes the Tambey group of fields, among them Novatek’s South Tambey field. Also the Tasiiskoye field and the Salmanovskoye field are likely to be included in the joint venture.
The Tambey fields are located partly on land, partly offshore, in the Yamal Penisula, the Ob Bay and the Gydan peninsula.
With the agreement, the projected Yamal LNG plant is likely to get more sources of gas. So far, the project has been designed for gas from only the South Tambey field and the project development company has included only Novatek (80%) and Total (20%). The agreement might also stagger Novatek’s attempt to break through Gazprom’s export monopoly.
A key component of the Yamal LNG project is also the development of the Sabetta port. As previously reported, the the Russian government is reportedly investing 47.2 billion RUB (€1.15 billion) in the port and adjacent infrastructure, while private investments in the infrastructure facilities amount to 25.9 billion RUB (€640 million). When completed, reportedly in 2016, the port will be able to handle specially designed Arctic LNG carriers shipping liquefied gas from the field to European, South American and Asian markets.
