Rosneft Proposes Kara Sea LNG Exports: Press

Rosneft is drawing up plans for a 30mn metric tons/year LNG plant to monetise a pair of gas discoveries it recently made in the Arctic Kara Sea, the Moscow-based RBC news agency reported on February 2 citing government sources.

The company wants to build an LNG business to rival those of its domestic peers Gazprom and Novatek, but it has had trouble getting projects off the ground. The Kara terminal and other Rosneft LNG projects were discussed at a meeting on Russia's LNG strategy chaired by Russian deputy prime minister and former energy minister Alexander Novak last month.

Russia wants to ramp up LNG production to 140mn metric tons/year by 2035, from 30.5mn mt at present. And Rosneft believes it can play a key role in this drive.

As previously reported, the company is looking to produce between 35 and 50mn metric tons/year on the Taymyr peninsula as part of the Vostok Oil project. It also wants to export up to 15mn mt/yr of LNG in the Far East, and is working with ExxonMobil on a plan for a 6.2mn mt/yr facility in the region.

Rosneft has been trying to advance a Far Eastern LNG project for years, but has failed to make progress because of insufficient gas supplies. The company also had plans for a Pechora LNG terminal in Russia's far north, but gave up on that project years ago after being outbid by Gazprom in an auction for two gas fields.

The Russian parliament's energy committee is already concerned that revenues from gas exports are being hit by gas to gas competition between Novatek and Gazprom.