Sakhalin 2 increasingly confident in conducting maintenance without foreigners' participations - Gazprom
MOSCOW. June 17 (Interfax) - Routine maintenance on the technological equipment in the Sakhalin-2 project is carried out as planned, whereas in previous years, in the aftermath of the departure of foreign participants and contractors, such procedures were quite a "challenge," a board member of Gazprom said.
In 2022, the operator of the project relocated to the Russian jurisdiction, Sergei Menshikov said in interview with the industry magazine Gazovaya Promyshlennost, which was published on Saturday in its special edition marking the project's anniversary. "That stage saw the stabilization of the operation and ushered in a new period of development of the project, given the exit by Shell (SPB: RDS.A) [SPB: RDS.A)] which acted as a technical consultant," Menshikov said.
"The key task was, and still is, to ensure a smooth production cycle and achieve the targets set for production, manufacture and shipping LNG [liquefied natural gas] and oil in the absence of the key foreign suppliers equipment and services who left. During seasonal technological shutdowns in the summer of 2022 and 2023 all work needed to ensure safe and reliable operation of the project's main technological facilities was completed. That was a challenge, brilliantly surmounted by the team of Sakhalin Energy LLC. Now preparations are underway for the work during this summer shutdown, which is already proceeding as scheduled thanks to the experience gained," Menshikov said.
"At the same time, it is tasks rather than challenges that are facing our whole oil and gas industry, and Sakhalin Energy LLC in particular. Thus, the tasks ahead of the company include the overall program to reconstruct production facilities, including replacing outdated equipment and automatics. An important task is to create new enterprises and adapt existing ones to service and repair foreign-made equipment, and to provide post-sale service. A great deal has already been done, but we are not complacent," he said.
Sakhalin-2 is a project to develop Piltun-Astokhskoye and Lunskoye fields on the Sakhalin offshore shelf. Its LNG plant in Prigorodnoye (in the south of the island) opened in February 2009, reaching full capacity, 9.6 million tonnes per year, in 2010. Subsequently, a program to streamline operation boosted its productivity by 20% to 11.5 million tonnes of LNG a year. Last year the company produced more than 10 million tonnes of LNG.
