Sakhalin Energy to deliver carbon-neutral LNG to Japan's Toho Gas

The Gazprom-led Sakhalin Energy consortium reported on September 28 it would deliver a cargo of carbon-neutral LNG to Japan's Toho Gas early next month. The two sides also announced a plan for a partnership in decarbonisation.

LNG is usually counted as carbon or greenhouse gas neutral if the parties involved in the deal cover the resulting emissions by obtaining certificates generated from projects that reduce or avoid such emissions. But the International Energy Agency notes that a standardised system for monitoring, reporting and verifying the emissions of the cargoes has not yet been created.

Sakhalin Energy, which besides Gazprom includes Shell and Japanese companies Mitsui and Mitsubishi as its members, operates a 10mn metric ton/year liquefaction plant on Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East. It will deliver the carbon-neutral cargo using Russia's Grand Aniva LNG carrier. It will be shipped to the Chita LNG terminal in Japan's Aichi prefecture.

Sakhalin Energy and Toho Gas agreed to cooperate in decarbonisation at the Sakhalin Oil and Gas 2021 Far Eastern Energy forum, at a ceremony attended by Russia's economic development minister Maxim Reshetnikov, and the governor of the Sakhalin region, Valery Limarenko, among others. Sakhalin is aspiring to become the first carbon-neutral Russian region by 2025.