Gas from the Yamal LNG project was delivered to China in special tankers via the Northeast Passage.
My colleague Irina Matyushenko welcomed them in a port in Jiangsu province.
Vladimir Rusanov and Eduard Toll are the names of two LNG tankers. They brought the first batch of Russian gas via the Northeast Passage. These are special heavy-duty Arc7 ice-class tankers. They can travel through the North Sea without icebreaker assistance. According to the tanker's captain, Dennis Bonetta, -50°C (-58F) isn't a problem for this vessel. This LNG tanker easily passes through 2-meter thick ice.
Captain Dennis Bonetta, Vladimir Rusanov LNG tanker: "This ship is unique in its class, it's very different from a regular tanker. First of all, its construction is different. As you know, it's intended for LNG transportation. Also, it's an Arc7 ice-class tanker, made especially for the Arctic climate."
The tankers traveled through the North Sea for nine days, and the entire route took 2.5 weeks. This is much faster than the traditional route through the Suez Canal and the Strait of Malacca. The tankers departed from the port of Sabetta, where two lots of 170 m3 of LNG were loaded from Novatek's Yamal LNG plant. Their destination is the port of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. The tankers received a red carpet welcome by the Russian and Chinese delegations.
Leonid Mikhelson, CEO of Novatek: "The majority of today's meeting was probably devoted to discussing the necessity for the development of the Northeast Passage's logistics center. We have a way to cut back on expenses, making us the most competitive on the Asian market."
China's CNPC is the buyer of Russian LNG. They've signed a 20-year contract for gas supplies. CNPC has worked with Novatek for a long time and is one of Yamal LNG's shareholders.
Jianhua Zhang, CEO of CNPC: "Yamal LNG is CNPC's largest project in Russia. We'll import 3 million tons of gas to China per year."
Yamal LNG is a project that produces and sells LNG from the Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye gas field. They produce over 16 million tons of gas every year. It's exported to Europe and Asia. However, the Asian pivot is considered a priority in Russia.
Aleksandr Novak, Russia's Minister of Energy: "The Asian-Pacific Region, China, in particular, is the most rapidly growing market right now. That makes it especially attractive for Russia. We see Chinese companies' interest to participate in Russian projects."
The Yamal Peninsula is the largest gas production region in the world. 80% of Russia's gas and 15% of global gas is produced here. The development of the Northeast Passage will help increase gas exports from remote gas fields to different countries. This first delivery to Asia, specifically China, is very useful in this sense.
