Novatek to set up centre for offshore structures in Russia

Russia’s Novatek, the developer of the giant Yamal LNG project, said Thursday it has signed a deal to set up a center for the construction of large-scale offshore structures in Belokamenka, Murmansk region.

Russia’s largest non-state natural gas producer signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of industry and trade and the Murmansk Region Government.

Under the memorandum, the parties intend to sign a tripartite special investment contract on creating the center.

Novatek is expected to ship the first cargo from its $27 billion Yamal LNG project before October this year. The company is also planning to build another project in the Gydan peninsula named Arctic LNG-2, that would have the same output of 16.5 million tons of LNG per year as the Yamal project.

“To efficiently develop our vast resource base in the Far North, decrease construction cost and increase the competitiveness of our future LNG project, it is very important to create a center to construct large-scale offshore structures in Russia,” said Leonid Mikhelson, chief executive and co-owner of Novatek

“With the construction of the Kola Yard we plan to meet the challenge of maximizing the localization of production of LNG plants based on the gravity-based structures, readymade for producing LNG,” added Mikhelson.