Novatek adds to more fields to Arctic gas base
Russian LNG exporter Novatek has acquired rights to two more fields on the Yamal peninsula in the Russian Arctic, after winning state licensing auctions, the company said on September 8.
The Arkticheskoye and Neitinskoye fields hold 2.9bn barrels of oil in reserves according to Russia's classification system, Novatek said, including 413bn m3 of gas and 28mn metric tons of liquid hydrocarbons. Novatek paid 13.15bn rubles ($180mn) for 27-year licences for the deposits.
Novatek is seeking to expand its resource base on the Yamal and neighbouring Gydan peninsulas to underpin future LNG export projects. The company's only operational liquefaction plant in the area is the 17mn mt/yr Yamal LNG, but it aims to launch a second, the 19.8mn mt/yr Arctic LNG-2, in 2023. It has plans for several more projects, estimating that it could have up to 70mn mt/yr of LNG supply online by 2030.