Russia’s Sakhalin-2 LNG export terminal, operated by Gazprom, has shipped its first carbon-neutral liquefied natural gas cargo to Japan.
This shipment is part of a recently announced deal between Sakhalin Energy, the operator of the Prigorodnoye facility, and Toho Gas.
Sakhalin Energy said on said Friday it sent the shipment aboard Sovcomflot’s 145,000-cbm LNG carrier Grand Aniva. The firm chartered the vessel from Sovcomflot for year-round supply from the LNG plant to Asia-Pacific countries.
It should deliver the carbon-neutral shipment to the Chita terminal in Aichi prefecture this week.
“The first shipment of Russian “green” LNG offers unique opportunities for long-term direct supply of carbon-neutral/offset gas to the domestic market of the Asia-Pacific region, ” Roman Dashkov, CEO of Sakhalin Energy, said.
According to Dashkov, offsetting the carbon footprint from the entire LNG chain from production to final usage by end-users allows making this energy resource “even more in demand in countries that are consistently working on solving the decarbonization problem.”
Japan is one of them and it is also one of the essential buyers of LNG coming from Sakhalin.
In 2020, Sakhalin Energy shipped 51.6 percent of the total volumes from the LNG plant to Japan.
The Sakhalin-2 LNG facility produced and shipped record 11.6 million tonnes of LNG last year. This is equivalent to 178.6 standard cargoes.
It started producing LNG back in 2009 with a design capacity of 9.6 mtpa, but due to technical improvements and upgrades, together with weather and temperature conditions, production rose by 20 percent.
Besides Japan, the LNG plant supplies South Korea, Taiwan, and China.
Sakhalin Energy’s shareholders include operator Gazprom, major partner Shell, and Japan’s Mitsui and Co., and Mitsubishi Corporation.