Chinese corporation delays launch of LNG plant in Khabarovsk Territory, searching for site

KHABAROVSK. May 19 (Interfax) - Far Eastern Corporation Xinxing - Khabarovsk LNG LLC, a subsidiary of China's Zhongyu Xinxing Energy Industry Corporation, plans to build an LNG plant in Khabarovsk Territory with an annual capacity of 80,000 tonnes.

A corresponding agreement was signed between the plant's representatives and the authorities of Khabarovsk Territory on the sidelines of the Russia-China Forum in Khabarovsk on Monday, an Interfax correspondent reported from the signing ceremony.

"They intend to invest approximately 1.3 billion rubles in the construction of this plant. The timeline for construction and commissioning of the first phase is now estimated for 2028-2029 [previously, 2025 was mentioned]. Production, including the second phase, will be 80,000 tonnes. The enterprise will be located in the Khabarovsk municipal district, but the exact site has not been determined yet; selection is underway," Khabarovsk Territory Energy Minister Herman Tyutyukov told Interfax.

The company plans to use gas from the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok pipeline as feedstock, as well as from the Belogorsk-Khabarovsk connector which is currently under construction.

Materials presented by the company during the forum indicate that the project involves planned investment of $40 million (approximately 3.2 billion rubles). The construction period is set for 2026-2028. Target markets include the domestic one (33,000 tonnes) and China's northern provinces (47,000 tonnes).

It was previously reported that DK Xinxing planned to build two LNG production facilities and a gas terminal in the Far East. These included a large-scale LNG plant in the vicinity of Pyati Okhotnikov Bay in Primorye Territory, a small-scale LNG plant with a capacity of up to 80,000 tonnes per year in Khabarovsk Territory and an LPG transshipment logistics complex in the Jewish Autonomous Region.

The company first announced its plans at the 6th Eastern Economic Forum in September 2021, with total project investment estimated at 490 billion rubles. Later, the investor reaffirmed its plans, most recently in 2023, saying that the expected launch date of the Khabarovsk plant was 2025.