This year, the planned maintenance of Russia’s Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas (LNG) project will be carried out for the first time without the participation of foreign contractors, and there is a risk that it will be delayed for a long time. This factor may threaten global fuel supply in the medium term, informs Bloomberg agency.
Planned work at the facilities should begin in July 2023 and take approximately 40 days. Against this backdrop, a number of traders expressed their concerns about the prolonged shutdown of the Russian fuel project. The article also states that companies are afraid that the maintenance of Sakhalin-2 may not be completed within the pre-agreed time.
“This year, the maintenance of the Russian project will be carried out for the first time without the participation of any foreign contractors. <….> LNG traders are worried that Russia will not be able to complete the work within the specified time. A prolonged outage could cut off significant gas supplies at a time when the world is busy refueling for the winter. As a result, the global gas market may once again face the risk of higher fuel prices.
April 12 Russian government allowed Novatek will acquire British oil and gas company Shell’s stake in Sakhalin Energy, the operator of the Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas project. The cost of the transaction is estimated at 94.8 billion rubles. Thus, only two Japanese companies remained within the foreign shareholders of the project – Mitsui & Co. (12.5% shares) and Mitsubishi (10%).