LNG

Russia’s new LNG kid on the block

Novatek managed to get Yamal LNG online this year, but the company will now face competition at home and abroad Novatek managed to get Yamal LNG online this year, but the company will now face competition at home and abroad.
By Tom Hoskyns 22 December 2017 0 28898
An ice-breaking LNG carrier, which will transport cargoes from Yamal LNG. An ice-breaking LNG carrier, which will transport cargoes from Yamal LNG. (SCF)

The first shipment from Malaysia’s FLNG project in April this year set a high bar for technical achievement few thought would be surpassed in 2017. 

When Leonid Mikhelson, chief executive of Novatek, insisted less than a month before that his Yamal LNG project would be online by the end of this year, industry observers shook their heads and pointed to the company’s inexperience coupled with the harsh Arctic conditions.

But fast forward to early December and Mikhelson has proved the doubters wrong. Not only has Yamal started...