Rosneft mulls shipping LNG from Europe to Murmansk Region
MURMANSK. Nov 19 (Interfax) - Rosneft considered the possibility of regular shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Murmansk Region at a meeting of a working group with the regional government, the state oil major's vice president, Vlada Rusakova said at the Murmansk business week conference on Monday.
She said the working group considered several options for LNG shipments to the region, including shipments by sea from European countries and shipments by rail from Leningrad Region if a mini LNG plant is built there. The option of shipments by sea was deemed the most promising.
"A preliminary analysis showed that the option of shipments from the European market is the most attractive compared to the option of shipments from the planned plant in Leningrad Region because there are restrictions on the railway," Rusakova said.
She said that initially the company plans to ship about 700 million cubic meters of gas with the potential to more than double shipments to 1.5 bcm per year.
The working group analysed demand for LNG in the region, which is currently estimated at 2.7 bcm to 3.8 bcm annually. Demand was differentiated by area. Rosneft sees the northern part of the region - Murmansk and surrounding areas, where more than 80% of potential demand is concentrated - as the target market in the medium term.
Rusakova said the project would require the construction of facilities for transshipment, regasification and transportation of LNG in the region. "This option calls for the construction of a terminal to store and regasify LNG at the Murmansk receiving terminal. Further transportation to end consumers will require the construction of distribution gas pipelines or the use of automobile systems," she said.
Another promising option for gas supplies to the region is the development of offshore fields in the Barents Sea by the company and the use of pipelines, Rusakova said.
"We settled on the preliminary option for supplies of gas, the first gas, from abroad. The organization of gas supplies for the region based on the company's offshore fields is a long-term project that will ensure long-term supplies and will require solving a whole set of challenges," Rusakova said.
It was reported earlier that the gasification of Murmansk Region was supposed to be part of the Shtokman project, but it has been suspended and gasification has been postponed.