Gazprom to start searching for buyers of Yamal LNG gas after receiving technical documentation
MOSCOW. Oct 29 (Interfax) - Gazprom Export will start searching for buyers for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Yamal LNG project after it receives the relevant technical documentation, a company source told Interfax.
"There is an agency agreement between Gazprom Export and the company Yamal LNG, which is part of NOVATEK , on exports of future LNG to be produced at the Yamal-based enterprise that is currently under construction," the source said.
This contractual format of relations envisages the receipt by Gazprom Export of technical documentation and data on authorization and technical characteristics, particularly infrastructure, the Gazprom Export source said.
"But right now we are lacking a substantial amount of the necessary information on the project, which seriously influences the further organization of LNG exports, in particular the determination of pricing parameters," the source said. Gazprom Export intends to execute all of its agreements "as soon as it receives such details and documents," he said.
In a previous interview with Forbes, NOVATEK co-owner Gennady Timchenko said that the key document for taking out loans to finance the Yamal LNG project is a gas export contract.
"But Gazprom Export has still not signed a single contract with consumers and is not giving us any promises. So we are saying: if you are not prepared to fulfill a commission agreement, give us the ability to sign long-term contracts for LNG supplies ourselves. Then we'll go into the market and do this ourselves," Timchenko said.
The Yamal LNG project calls for the development of the South-Tambeyskoye field, with recoverable reserves of 1.3 trillion cubic meters of gas and the construction of an LNG plant with capacity of 16.5 million tonnes of LNG and 1 million tonnes of gas condensate per year. There are plans to build three phases of 5.5 million tonnes of LNG per year each, to be launched at the end of 2016, end of 2017 and end of 2018, respectively. Investments in the project will come to about $20 billion.
Asked whether the Russian authorities might allow the company to export gas independently, Timchenko said: "I can't guarantee it, but I think that logic must prevail at some point. We need to understand that if we want to mount such a project then the legislative base needs to be adjusted for this."