MOL, Marubeni ink LNG joint venture with NOVATEK

Japanese shipping company MOL and investment firm Marubeni have signed an agreement with Russia’s gas production company NOVATEK to launch an Arctic liquified natural gas (LNG) transshipment project to the Asia-Pacific region, MOL said in a statement.    Japanese ocean carrier Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) and Tokyo-based investment firm Marubeni Corp., have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Moscow with NOVATEK, Russia’s largest independent gas production and sales company, to launch a joint study aimed at establishing an liquified natural gas (LNG) transshipment and marketing facility in the Kamchatka area, said MOL.
   The joint venture will eventually create offshore infrastructure to transship LNG cargoes from ice-breaking LNG ships to standard LNG ships, said MOL. The LNG will be produced via NOVATEK projects in the Arctic region and will “ensure flexible LNG supply to the Asia-Pacific region,” the companies said. The role of Marubeni and MOL will be to contribute to the relationship between Japan and Russia and to the “stable supply of LNG to the Asian-Pacific region,” including Japan, said MOL.
   “One of the main advantages of creating an LNG transshipment terminal at Kamchatka is its close proximity to consumers and the opportunity to ensure flexible sales terms for the key consuming markets of the Asian-Pacific region,” said NOVATEK’s Management Board Chairman Leonid Mikhelson. “The MOU demonstrates a high market interest and relevancy for this type of project to address market needs.”
   According to LNG World Shipping, NOVATEK is expected to load its first commercial cargoes in the next week and is also planning a second Russian Arctic LNG-export project.