Russian LNG exporter Novatek has sent the second gravity-based structure platform from its yard near Murmansk to the site of the Arctic LNG 2 project located on the Gydan peninsula, according to reports in Russia.
The second GBS, or LNG train, left the Belokamenka yard under tow on July 26, Kommersant said in a report.
The unit, with a total weight of more than 600,000 tons, will travel along the Northern Sea Route.
According to Kommersant, installation of the unit at the Arctic LNG 2 site is expected to start in mid-August.
Novatek completed the second GBS despite sanctions by the US and the EU related to the Arctic LNG 2 project.
The first GBS left the Belokamenka yard in July last year and Novatek completed the installation on the underbase foundation on the seabed at the Utrenniy terminal on Gydan in August.
This 330 meters long, 152 meters wide, and 90 meters high platform weighs 640,000 tonnes and is the heaviest object ever moved in the history of the global LNG industry, Novatek claims.
The train consists of topside modules with the equipment to produce and offload LNG and stable gas condensate, installed on a concrete gravity-based structure, which accommodates LNG and condensate storage tanks.
Arctic LNG 2
According to reports in Russia, Novatek started production of LNG from the first unit in December but it is not shipping LNG from the project due to sanctions and lack of vessels.
The first and second GBS each have a capacity of about 6.6 mtpa, while the Arctic LNG 2 project also includes the construction of the third GBS.
The resource base of the Arctic LNG 2 project is the Utrenneye field located on the Gydan Peninsula in the YaNAO, about 70 km from the Novatek-operated Yamal LNG project across the Gulf of Ob.
Novatek is the LNG project’s operator with a 60 percent stake, France’s TotalEnergies owns 10 percent, while CNPC and CNOOC of China have 10 percent, each.
Japan Arctic LNG, a consortium of Mitsui & Co and Jogmec, owns a 10 percent stake in the project as well.
In January, TotalEnergies initiated a force majeure process on the Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia due to sanctions.
In March 2022, TotalEnergies said it would no longer provide capital and book proven reserves for the Arctic LNG 2 project due to the uncertainty created by the technological and financial sanctions on the ability to carry out the development.
After that, TotalEnergies wrote down its 19.4 percent stake in Novatek and withdrew the representatives of the company from the board of Novatek.