Novatek is Russia’s largest private producer of natural gas and are now looking for partners to build what will be the largest plant for liquefied natural gas (LNG) on the Yamal Peninsula in Russian Arctic.
Vedmosti reports that the Yamal plant might be operational before Gazprom’s LNG flagship, the Teriberka plant set to produce LNG from the Shtokman field in the Barents Sea.
French oil major Total signed an agreement with Novatek earlier in March on the Yamal LNG project with a 20 percent share. Total and Statoil are from before partners with Gazprom in Sthokman Development AG, supposed to announce a decision on Shtokman investment in April.
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The reason why Novatek now considers Statoil as the second partner in its Yamal LNG project is the Norwegian oil major’s installations at Melkøya, the plant making LNG from the Snøhvit field in the Norwegian part of the Barents Sea, a Novatek source told Reuters earlier this week.
Statoil does not confirm the talks on partnership with Novatek.
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Development of the Yamal natural gas fields and construction of the LNG plant will need a $20 billion investment, Bloomberg reports.
Statoil’s existing LNG plant at Melkøya, just outside Hammerfest in Finnmark, started its production in August 2007. Located far beyond the Arctic Circle, the plant was Europe’s first export facility for liquefied natural gas (LNG).
