Final investment decision (FID) has been taken for the 19.8 Mt/year Arctic LNG 2 project in northern Russia. The project's partners are Novatek with a majority stake of 60%, Total, CNOOC, CNPC and Japan Arctic LNG holding with 10% stakes each.
The Arctic LNG 2 project will consist of three liquefaction trains of 6.6 Mt/year capacity each, with the first one expected to be commissioned in 2023, while units 2 and 3 are expected for commercial operation in 2024 and 2026, respectively. The liquefaction plant will be fed by output from the Utrenneye field in the hydrocarbon-rich Gydan peninsula in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District (Russia). Reserves are estimated at 1,150-2,000 bcm of gas and 60-105 Mt of liquids.
Total investment for development will be of US$21.3bn, which is considered low enough to enable it to compete with LNG from the United States and Canada. A consortium of TechnipFMC, Saipem and NIPIGAS (Russia) was awarded the contract on engineering, procurement and construction of the LNG plant (EPC contract), with the design and construction of gravity-based structures to be built by the Russian company SAREN, a joint venture of RHI Russia and Saipem.