JBIC readies $400 mln loan for Yamal LNG

Japan Bank for International Cooperation is about to loan US$400 million to the Novatek-operated Yamal LNG project, according to Tadashi Maeda, JBIC’s CEO. 

A memorandum of understanding with Novatek for a strategic partnership on the project is in the plans while the loan deal is close to being finalized, Maeda said, Bloomberg reports.

He added that, once the Yamal LNG deal is complete, JBIC is interested in exploring the option of investing in Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 project. Novatek intends to commence the development of the new project once the Yamal LNG construction is complete.

Bloomberg quotes Novatek’s CEO Leonid Mikhelson as saying the company is not in a hurry to choose partners for the new project that has a planned start-up in 2022.

The financing from JBIC comes on top of the finance package totaling the equivalent of $18.4 billion, Novatek has already secured for the Yamal LNG project.

Yamal LNG project will have the capacity to produce 16.5 million tons per annum once the construction is complete. First LNG from the facility’s Train 1 is scheduled for 2017.

Shareholders in the project besides the operator, Novatek are CNPC and Total with 20 percent stake each and China’s Silk Road Fund with a 9.9 percent stake.

LNG World News Staff