Work Halts at Russian Gas Field after Covid-19 Outbreak: Press
A key contractor at Gazprom's Chayandinskoye gas field in eastern Siberia has said it is halting work there because of Covid-19 lockdown measures, Russia's RBC news agency reported on May 6.
Chayandinskoye was placed under partial quarantine in mid-April after an outbreak of Covid-19. On May 3 the Russian health ministry said 3,000 workers at the site in Yakutia tested positive for the virus, after more than 10,500 were given tests. Contractor Stroytransneftegaz told RBC it had suspended work and would not resume operations until the lockdown measures were eased.
Chayandinskoye has been pumping gas to China via the Power of Siberia since the pipeline's launch in December. Work is underway to bring its production capacity to a plateau rate of 25bn m3/yr by 2022-2023.
"At present, the timeline for commissioning facilities at the Chayandinskoye field remain unchanged," Gazprom told Russia's Tass news agency. "Gas is supplied to China via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline in accordance with the contract."