$4bn LNG carrier bonanza needed to shift Shtokman gas

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

30 Sep 2011

The OAO Gazprom-led Shtokman project to produce liquefied natural gas, or LNG, from a Barents Sea field almost 600 kilometers from shore may require a $4 billion fleet to transport

the fuel, a potential bonanza for Korean yards.
The Shtokman project, which includes Total SA (FP) and Statoil ASA (STL), may require 20 tankers, which in total will cost that sum, Evgeny Ambrosov, senior executive vice president of Sovcomflot told reporters today in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia. 
Gazprom, Russia’s largest gas producer, and its partners have delayed an investment decision on the Shtokman project to the end of this year as shale gas production in the US, the target market, damped demand for LNG. That pushed some cargoes to Europe, pushing down prices in a potential market. 
Russia’s largest shipowner is seeking to open an Arctic sea lane to Asia for large-scale commercial use during a five-month navigable season. Sovcomflot has reduced the time to navigate the passage by one to 7.3 days in test runs this year, Ambrosov said. 
OAO Novatek, Russia’s second-largest gas producer, has tested the route with cargoes of condensate before building a plant to produce LNG on Russia’s Yamal peninsula. State- controlled OAO Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil producer, and Glencore International Plc, the world’s largest commodities trader, have also shown interest in the route, Ambrosov said. 
Novatek’s Arctic Yamal LNG project, in which Total is a partner, may be the world’s most complex undertaking of its kind, Ambrosov said.
Source: Seatrade-Asia