Norwegians eye Shtokman LNG contracts
A delegation from the Shtokman Development AG has been in Norway to talk cooperation on the construction of LNG carriers.
A source in a Norwegian shipping company confirms that a meeting with the Shtokman developers has taken place and that the Norwegian shipping establishment is “very interested”, the Scandinavian Oil-Gas Magazine reports.
The source maintains however that the Norwegians will hardly be interested if the Shtokman Development only wants “the most-stripped-down of ships”.
Several Norwegian LNG shipping players are believed to eventually hand in bids for the Shtokman contracts. Some, like Oslo-based Höegh LNG is believed to already offer what Gazprom wants: a proven record in the arctic and regular ship-to-LNG-jetty and ship-to-ship cargo transfers for gas, Scandinavian Oil-Gas Magazine writes.
The Shtokman project will be a major test for Gazprom’s capacities within LNG development. The company this year started its first ever LNG production in the Sakhalin-2 project. The Shtokman field will be the next big test.
As BarentsObserver previously has reported, LNG production and shipping in the Shtokman hub of Teriberka on the Barents Sea coast is likely to encounter several major challenges. Among them is harsh climate and problems with tanker maneuvering in the adjacent bay.
The Shtokman Development AG will have to obtain a major number of LNG carriers to handle the huge 3,8 trillion cubic meter field, half of which is planned transformed into LNG.
In the course of the first Shtokman development phase, a total of 23,7 billion cubic meters of gas per year is planned extracted, of which half will be sold as LNG. In the first phase, about 7,5 million tons of LNG is to be produced. That will be increased to 15 million tons in the second phase and 30 million tons in the third phase.
Read more news from the Shtokman project in BarentsObserver’s Shtokman section
