9 Jun 2023 12:54

Gazprom postpones launch of plant to produce LNG from coalbed methane by three years - authorities

KEMEROVO. June 9 (Interfax) - The first stage of a Gazprom plant to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) from coalbed methane in the Kuznetsk basin is now scheduled for 2026, the press service of the Kemerovo Region's Industry and Trade Ministry told reporters.

The capacity of the first stage is expected to be 3 tonnes per hour and the second stage will expand it to 24 tonnes per hour, with two trains producing up to 12 tonnes per hour each.

The regional authorities said in June 2021 that the Russian gas giant's subsidiary Gazprom Dobycha Kuznetsk (GDK) had begun building an LNG plant at the Naryksko-Ostashkinskoye methane and coal deposit in Kemerovo Region. The first stage of the plant was scheduled to go into operation in the first quarter of 2023 and the plant was supposed to reach design capacity of 220,000 tonnes per year in 2024.

The regional ministry -said the total capacity of the plant will remain unchanged, but it is unclear when this figure will be reached. "The dates will be determined when the field development plan for the Naryksko-Ostashkinskoye methane and coal deposit is updated," the ministry said.

"Design documentation for the construction of the connecting gas pipelines of demonstration wells, the LNG plant site, power transmission line and access road has been drawn up in order to prepare the infrastructure for the operation of the LNG plant with capacity of 3 tonnes per hour," the ministry said.

Forecast methane resources in the Kuznetsk basin are estimated at 13 trillion cubic meters.

GDK holds licenses to explore for and produce gas at the Taldinskoye deposit with methane reserves of more than 70 billion cubic meters, the Naryksko-Ostashkinskoye deposit with over 160 bcm and the Tutuyassko-Raspadskaya field with methane resources of over 530 bcm.