Novatek Overseas Sales Slump 28.4% in Q1
Russia's Novatek reduced its international gas sales by 28.4% yr/yr in the first quarter to 2.45bn m3, it said on April 9. The year-on-year drop reflected the start-up of long-term sales contracts which came at the expense of spot sales, it said.
Gas sales in Russia were also down 2.9% at 18.24bn m3, bringing overall sales to 20.7bn m3, down 6.8% yr/yr. In contrast, Novatek's gas production grew by 2.2% to 19.1bn m3, it said, while output of liquids climbed 2% to 3.05mn mt. At the end of March the company had 0.3bn m3 of gas stored as inventory.
Yamal LNG, a 16.5mn mt/yr LNG export plant in the Russia Arctic, is operated by Novatek but also counts France's Total and China's CNPC and Silk Road Fund as shareholders. The terminal was launched in December 2017 and reached full capacity within a year, ahead of schedule.
Its faster ramp-up meant that a large share of its gas was sold on spot markets initially, as long-term contracts were yet to come into force and so the plant operator was able to capitalise on the higher spot prices by trading on its own account. Most of its gas is contracted for delivery to China and other Asia-Pacific markets.