LNG tanker Surya Aki loaded at Prigorodnoye under Sakhalin-2 project (photo)
LNG tanker Surya Aki moored at the LNG terminal in Prigorodnoye, Aniva Bay (Sakhalin-2 project). Sakhalin Energy says it was the vessel’s first call to Russia for loading with Sakhalin LNG and for delivery of it to Hiroshima Gas. Upon completion of the loading the ship set sail for port Hatsukaichi (Japan).
“The growing number of vessels shipping liquefied natural gas under Sakhalin-2 project is an evidence of a new level of relations with Japanese customers and stronger reputation of Russia as a reliable supplier of energy resources”, the statement says.
Hiroshima Gas is a long-standing partner of Sakhalin Energy. The agreement was signed in 2006.
In the future, the vessels can be used by the customer together with another gas carrier of similar capacity, Sun Arrows, chartered by Hiroshima Gas for shipping of Sakhalin LNG to Japan.
LNG of Sakhalin project is transported by both the customers’ fleet and Grand series tankers (Grand Elena, Grand Aniva, Grand Mereya) built specially for the project and chartered by Sakhalin Energy under long-term agreement, as well as by other chartered vessels, Amur River and Ob River. In 2016, LNG fleet of Sakhalin Energy numbers 5 tankers.
Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. (Sakhalin Energy) is the operator of Sakhalin-2, one of the world’s largest integrated oil and gas projects, which has developed major infrastructure for hydrocarbon production, transportation and processing. The Company exports crude oil produced in the Sea of Okhotsk and LNG produced at Russia’s first LNG plant built by Sakhalin Energy in the south of Sakhalin. The Company’s shareholders are Gazprom (50% + 1 share), Royal Dutch Shell (27.5% - 1 share), Mitsui and Co. Ltd. (12.5%) and Mitsubishi Corporation (10%).
The project’s infrastructure created by the Company includes, among other things, three offshore ice resistant platforms, the Trans-Sakhalin Pipeline System, which comprises 300km long offshore pipelines, an onshore gas pipeline and an onshore oil pipeline, 800 km long each, the Onshore Processing Facility (OPF), the Oil Export Terminal (OET), and Russia’s first and so far the only LNG plant which accounts for over 4 percent of the world’s LNG.
The main buyers of Sakhalin Energy oil and LNG are countries of the Asia Pacific Region. At present, oil is delivered to China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, the USA, the Philippines, and Taiwan. The main LNG buyers are power companies in Japan, South Korea and China.
