Novatek presents operation schedule for Murmansk LNG terminal through 2033

MURMANSK. April 4 (Interfax) - Construction of the Murmansk LNG terminal for Novatek-Murmansk in the Kola Bay of the Barents Sea is envisaged in seven stages, the engineering and geodetic surveys program prepared by Lenmorniiproyekt shows.

The purpose of Murmansk LNG is to load LNG into sea vessels for further transportation to ports in Russia and foreign countries, to ensure the year-round reception of ships, and to operate the LNG plant at its offshore platform, the documentation says.

Currently, the materials from the preliminary environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the creation of the Murmansk LNG production complex and the Murmansk LNG loading terminal have been submitted for public discussion.

The EIA is being conducted from March 1 through August 31 of the current year. Public discussions in survey format are ongoing from April 4 through May 3.

The Russian Energy Ministry announced the start of construction of a main gas pipeline branch to Murmansk in March of this year.

"Work is already underway on the construction of the Volkhov-Murmansk branch gas pipeline for the Murmansk LNG plant and gasification of the northern regions of Karelia and the Murmansk region. It's a grandiose project, with about 1,300 km of main gas pipeline," Artem Verkhov, director of the Energy Ministry's gas industry development department said.

As reported, the pipeline's capacity is planned at 41.2 bcm per year.

Novatek is exploring the possibility of implementing a new large-scale LNG project in the Murmansk region consisting of three liquefaction trains with a capacity of 6.8 million tonnes. The plan is to use the surplus resource of the Kola Nuclear Power Plant to power the LNG plant compressors. In order to supply gas to Murmansk, it will be necessary to build a 1,300-kilometer gas pipeline.