News Post
Yamal halves Artic LNG Vessel travel with transfers in Norwegian waters
By transferring LNG to more conventional tankers in Norway, the Arctic vessels cut in half the distance they would cover to deliver gas to Europe, enabling more frequent shipments from the Novatek terminal and increasing Russia’s gas exports.
Yamal, one of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in Arctic Russia, is expected to export as much as 11.7 million tonnes of LNG in the next seven months through Norway, according to the port hosting its ship-to-ship operations and Reuters calculations.
The ramp-up in output puts the Novatek terminal, in operation for less than a year, in excess of its nameplate capacity, with the Norwegian transfers the only way it can deliver the additional LNG to the market.
Yamal uses Arctic-classed LNG tankers to carry the gas through the Barents Sea; these vessels then transfer the cargo to more conventional tankers in Europe, enabling them to return sooner to the facility and pick up more supplies.
These transfers have began in Honningsvag, Norway, cutting the journey time to the previous transfer points in France, Belgium and the Netherlands by at least 2,000 kilometres and freeing up the Arctic tankers sooner.
Norway, Europe’s second-largest supplier of gas after Russia, said it was not “concerned” by the ship-to-ship transfers.
“Europe has a well-functioning gas market. The planned ship-to-ship transfers of Russian LNG in northern Norway are a commercial project,” the Norwegian Ministry for Oil and Energy told Reuters. “The fact that LNG is brought to the market via such transfers is not a concern for the ministry.”
Source: Reuters
For subscriptions or a demo:
Sam Hassaniyeh
Subscription Executive
Phone: +44 203 4092242
For questions or to give feedback:
Thad Pittman
Senior Researcher
Phone: +1 (713) 525-4605
Download our brochure today!
Project News