Russian authorities approve Utrenneye terminal construction

Russia’s General Board of State Expert Review (Glavgosexpertiza) has approved the construction of the Utrenneye terminal for the Arctic LNG 2 project.

Glavgosexpertiza said on Monday that its experts studied the design and documentation for the construction of the Utrenneye terminal in the Ob Bay of the Kara Sea.

The organization added that the results provided by the experts of Glavgosexpertiza issued positive conclusions.

The Utrenneye terminal will be built on the western shore of the Gydan peninsula in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region, where berthing facilities of Novatek’s Salmanovsky (Utrenneye) field are located.

The field with proved reserves of about 1.98 trillion cbm of natural gas and 105 million tonnes of liquid hydrocarbons is set to become a resource base of the Arctic LNG 2 project.

According to the information provided by Glavgosexpertiza, the construction of the mooring complex and the onshore facilities of the terminal will take place in seven stages. During the first three, the federally owned infrastructure facilities including deep-water access canals, aids to navigation for servicing icebreakers and cargo ships will be built.

In the course of the remaining four stages, work will be carried out on the construction and reconstruction of the port facilities, including the construction of a new berth on an artificial plot of land, reconstruction of the existing pier and construction of onshore infrastructure facilities. This will also include coastal infrastructure facilities.

Before the construction of the Arctic LNG 2 plant is completed in 2022, the Utrenneye terminal will accept and store construction cargo, fuel, lubrication materials and equipment for LNG production as well as industrial cargo for the development and operation of the Salmanovsky (Utrenneye) field.

Due to the tight construction schedule for the plant, the cargoes will be delivered all-year-round to the existing berths.

Financing of the works on construction of the Utrenneye terminal will be covered by the federal budget of the Russian Federation and resources from investors in a 26.57 percent to 73.43 percent ratio.

Arctic LNG 2 is Novatek’s second large scale LNG export project following the giant Yamal LNG project.

France’s Total, and China’s CNPC and CNOOC each have a 10 percent stake in the project.