Novatek confirms that Murmansk LNG will launch by 2030, Japan and the U.S. explore a joint Alaska project, Golar LNG sells its last carrier, fully reprofiling for floating liquefied natural gas production.
We previously featured an opinion reacting to the three-year reduction in Novatek's plans for the project—The Climate Warms for Novatek’s LNG. The seriousness of these intentions was reinforced once again by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak during his speech at the Russian parliament.
So far we have plans to build the plant sometime in 2030 and, accordingly, to prepare the relevant infrastructure by that period as well.
Novatek earlier stated that the capacity of the Murmansk plant will exceed 20 million tonnes. It will consist of three lines of 6.8 million tonnes each, with the first to be built in 2027 and the second in 2029. The timeline for the third line has not yet been announced.
The project is increasingly attracting attention. The first news about Japan's interest emerged at the end of January. Meanwhile, U.S. companies are advancing plans for new or expanded export capacity following the Trump administration's decision in January to lift a moratorium on new LNG export permits.
Later, Japan's trading house Mitsui expressed interest in studying the project, according to Reuters. Additionally, Japan's top power generator, JERA, announced that it anticipates competition for American LNG.
There are many potential buyers. Asian and European buyers are really interested in U.S. energy. So, there are many competitors.
—JERA Asia CEO Izumi Kai
"We will continue to identify the best project for us," Kai said. He also added that the company is exploring opportunities globally, including in the Middle East and Australia.
Golar LNG Limited announced on 13 February that it has executed agreements to sell the 2003-built steam turbine LNG carrier, Golar Arctic. The sale price for the vessel is $24 million before transaction-related expenses. The LNG carrier is unencumbered. The transaction is expected to close, and the vessel will be handed over to its new owner within Q1 2025. The Golar Arctic is the last LNG carrier in the Golar fleet. Following this sale, Golar will have fully exited its legacy shipping business, according to the company's press service.
With this move, the company will exit the shipping business and completely reprofile to focus on floating LNG projects. Currently, the official website of the company states that floating storage regasification units (FSRUs) and floating LNG projects (FLNG) operate in the UK, Norway, Cameroon, and Mauritania.
Source: TASS, Reuters, Reuters, GolarLNG
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