Gazprom: Portovaya LNG Plant to Be Used for Bunkering Marine Vessels in Russia

The LNG production, storage and shipment complex near the Portovaya compressor station will be used for bunkering marine vessels in Russia, according to Gazprom.

“It is planned to use the plant’s output to, inter alia, bunker marine vessels in Russia,” the company said.

As informed, the core process equipment of the complex is being assembled at the moment. Meanwhile, construction of an onshore LNG storage tank and berthing facilities is underway. The complex is slated to come onstream in 2019.

What is more, Gazprom is exploring the possibilities of building plants in the area of the Black Sea and in Russia’s Far East.

Gazpromneft Marine Bunker, the group’s single operator for selling LNG to end consumers in the bunkering market, is currently working on a project for an LNG bunkering vessel.

Today, only four vessels of this kind exist worldwide, along with eleven small-scale gas carriers some of which are fitted out for LNG bunkering, Gazprom added.

The group plans to continue creating infrastructure for producing and marketing LNG as bunker fuel, anticipating that the 2020 sulphur cap will decrease the use of fuel oil and increase the consumption of LNG.