Summary of Working Paper No. 86-1997

III.07.4: Seaborne Exports of Gas from Yamal.

By N. Isakov, E. Logvinovich, F. Moreynis, A. Nikulin, N. Popovitch, A. Silin, N. Stenin, I. Sverdlov, and V. Erashov, Central Marine Research and Design Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia.

The evaluation of marine gas export from Yamal is believed to be a closing stage in evaluation of the maritime trade development and commercial shipping in the western sector of the Russian Arctic.

The preparation of the whole economic project of gas export considerably exceeds the scope of the present research in terms of tasks and scale.

The authors of the project aim to attract the attention of ruling circles, Russian and foreign investors to the idea of LNG transportation along the Northern Sea Route by sea vessels.

The organization of such transportation would enable us to fulfill contractual obligations more reliably, to improve operations of alternative modes of transportation (pipe, rail, river), to determine practical ways to exploit the shelf fields of the Russian Arctic seas with a view to transport hydrocarbon materials from these fields.

In this respect, a technical economic feasibility study of Arctic going methane carriers has been conducted in the project on the basis of the last scientific technical achievements with due regard to practical experience acquired by the Merchant Marine of Russia through carriage of export/import and local commodities along the Northern Sea Route.

A project of technological transportation system of LNG export has been developed and coordinated with functions of separate elements ( LNG production plant, LNG storage plant, port transshipment terminal) under the task schedule. An assessment of possible risks has also been made.

Export volumes of natural gas products are estimated to be 10, 20 and 30 bln cub. m. a year; these figures characterize respective operational stages of the technological transportation system.

A methodical approach is accepted in accordance with the research of the company "Drewry Shipping Consultants" which undertook a number of scientific studies in the sphere of economic evaluation of the LNG seaborne transportation.

This project will be of interest for Russian and foreign companies and skilled specialists shall be involved in the development of gas fields in the Arctic regions of Russia. Problems of oil & gas transportation from those regions are very important. The use of sea transport, as the project shows, has good economic, technological and organizational prospects.