Sakhalin Energy, the operator of Russia’s Sakhalin-2 liquefaction facility in the port of Prigorodnoye, said it has closed the Piltun-Astokhskaya-B (PA-B) offshore oil and gas production platform for planned annual maintenance.
The largest oil and gas production platform of the Sakhalin-2 project supplies hydrocarbons via the TransSakhalin pipeline system to the LNG plant and the oil export terminal at the Prigorodnoye production complex.
Sakhalin Energy says the platform, located about 12 km offshore north-eastern Sakhalin, is the first of the Sakhalin-2 LNG production assets to close for maintenance this year.
Moreover, the company expects to complete the maintenance by the end of this month with about 250 persons taking part in the major turnaround activities.
Sakhalin Energy’s shareholders include operator Gazprom, major partner Shell, and Japan’s Mitsui and Co., and Mitsubishi Corporation.
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 an design capacity of 9.6 mtpa, but due to technical improvements and upgrades, together with weather and temperature conditions, production rose by 20 percent.
Most of these volumes land in Japan, followed by South Korea, Taiwan, and China.