Novatek-led Yamal LNG received state permission to commission the first liquefaction train of the $27 billion liquefied natural gas export project.
The state permission includes the commissioning of the main technological facilities of the LNG plant’s first stage, including the first liquefaction train, 58 gas wells and the respective infrastructure, the project said in a statement on Wednesday.
Evgeniy Kot , general director, Yamal LNG, said that with the permission the project expects “to launch the second and third LNG trains ahead of schedule.”
The design capacity of the first LNG train is 5.5 million tons per annum and Yamal LNG plans to begin shipping the chilled gas before the end of 2017.
LNG World News earlier reported that Sovcomflot’s LNG tanker Christophe de Margerie, the world’s first ice-breaking LNG vessel, arrived at the Yamal berth on November 7 and is waiting to load the first cargo.
December 8 has been reported as the possible date for the first shipment of LNG from the project.
The three-train Yamal LNG plant, designed to produce about 16.5 million tonnes per year, will liquefy natural gas from the South Tambey field on the Yamal Peninsula.
The project is a joint venture between Novatek, the operator with a 50.1 percent stake, China’s CNPC and Total of France with a 20 percent stake each and China’s Silk Road Fund with a 9.9 percent stake.
LNG World News Staff