Novatek Ships 1st LNG to UAE

Russia's Novatek has delivered its first batch of  LNG to the UAE, under a spot contract, the company said on August 28.

The cargo was sold by Novatek Gas & Power Asia from the Yamal LNG plant. It was delivered by the Yamal Spirit tanker to the UAE's Jebel Ali LNG terminal, Novatek said.

“With our first shipment to the UAE, we are expanding the geography of our LNG supplies,” Novatek's first deputy chairman of the management board, Lev Feodosyev, said in a statement. "The high-quality resource base in the Russian Arctic region, state-of-the-art technologies implemented by Novatek's LNG projects and our proven logistics solutions ensure cost-competitive supplies to almost any global LNG markets.”

The three-train 16.5mn mt/yr Yamal LNG plant was brought on stream in December 2017 and reached its full capacity within a year, ahead of schedule. It has also outperformed against nameplate at about 17.5mn mt/yr, thanks to the arctic conditions in which it operates. But a fourth, smaller train using Russian technology, due on stream by the end of last year, is still to come. 

Novatek has a 50.1% stake in the project while France's Total has 20% and China's CNPC and Silk Road Fund 20% and 9.9% respectively.