Yamal LNG Announces Maintenance Dates

Russian Yamal LNG will shut down the second and third LNG trains for 12 days successively, starting May 21 and ending June 15, the majority owner Novatek said May 13. In addition to regular maintenance works, Yamal LNG plans to modernise the absorbers at the mercury removal units, as well as implement a number of upgrades aimed at improving the efficiency of the LNG trains.

It said the routine maintenance is carried out "in accordance with the approved annual schedule and will not affect the planned LNG production volume for the year. Due to the successful implementation of a risk-based inspection maintenance system at Yamal LNG, the scheduled maintenance of the first liquefaction train is postponed by one year from August 2020 to 2021. The inspection system allows reliable operations of the LNG plant to continue while reducing the total number of service hours."

While spot market prices for LNG are low globally, LNG that is linked to oil prices is sold at higher prices so there is less reason for the company to take the maintenance slowly.

The three trains each of nominal 6.5mn metric tons/year have been yielding about a tenth more production, in part owing to their location in the north of Russia, where temperatures are well below 0 °C for much of the year. A fourth, smaller train of 900,000 mt/yr using Russian technology, has been delayed by technical problems. It was to have been operational last year.