Leonid Mikhelson: The first line of the plant “Yamal LNG” will be started up next year

The President of Russia Vladimir Putin conducted the meeting with the Chairman of the Board of NOVATEK Leonid Mikhelson, who told about the current activities of the company. He reminded that last year NOVATEK had launched several large investment projects, which gave a big plus in indexes of this year, in particular, on liquid hydrocarbons the increase in production made more than 30%. In more details he reported about the large investment project “Yamal LNG”.

The project is going according to plan. The investment decision was taken in 2013; the cost of investments is equivalent to 27 milliard dollars. It is confirmed this way, the budget is not exceeded. Today total progress is about 68%. Progress on the first line is about 85%. The planned commissioning of the first line is the end of 2017, as Leonid Mikhelson says. He notes that already more than 22 thousand people work in Sabetta. The total amount of orders in Russia is estimated in about 580 milliard rubles. 650 enterprises work, and almost 60 thousand working places were established. The chairman of the board of NOVATEK thanked the President for his timely support of the project on receiving the finances from the Russian National Wealth Fund, when external financing was not opened because of the sanctions, and support of the President helped to keep the schedule for fulfillment of “Yamal LNG”. Now the project received all the investments; 13 milliard were financed by the shareholders, Russian banks gave about 4 milliard of the equivalent, Chinese banks - 12 milliard, as he says. According to the words of Leonid Mikhelson, the required number of wells for the first phase was fully signed. The first reservoirs necessary for it will be input to operation in the first quarter of next year. It is scheduled to start up the electric power plant in the end of this year. “Exactly in twelve months we shall invite You for filling in the first tanker”, as he said to the President. More than 10 million tons of cargoes were received and unloaded within the project in Sabetta. The seaport has been working all the year round already for three years. Dredging of about 68 million cubic meters was conducted; all necessary objects of federal property were built, as it is informed on the website kremlin.ru. Reporting about an offloading jetty, Leonid Mikhelson notes that modules on offloading have already assembled, and in the first quarter of next year it is planned to test mooring of tankers. At the present time four icebreakers service the project, including two nuclear-powered ones. Atomflot built two port tugboats exactly for this project, and two icebreaking tugboats will be built next year. One more big port icebreaker is being built, it will be input to operation in 2018, as Leonid Mikhelson says, adding that practically the whole amount was contracted - 96% of the future amount of liquefied natural gas. The first tanker “Christophe de Margerie” is passing through sea trials. As we should remind, “Yamal LNG” fulfills the project of construction of the plant on production of liquefied natural gas with the capacity 16.5 million tons per year on the resource base of the South-Tambey field. It is planned to start production next year. The shareholders of “Yamal LNG” are: NOVATEK - 50.1%, Total and CNPC - 20% each, the Silk Road Fund - 9.9%.