RusEnergy

03-30-2009 - Upstream OnLine - The first Russian liquefied natural gas cargo for delivery to Japan has been successfully loaded from the Sakhalin II LNG plant into the Energy Frontier LNG carrier. The Energy Frontier left the Prigorodnoye port on 29 March for the Sodegaura terminal in Tokyo Bay, with a cargo of some 145 thousand cubic metres of LNG intended for two of the Sakhalin Energy's foundation customers - Tokyo Gas and Tokyo Electric. The LNG was loaded through the 805-metre long jetty at the Prigorodnoye port, which was purpose built for the year-round export of LNG and oil. With the start of LNG production and off-loading and year-round oil deliveries, which began in December 2008, a new major Asian energy source is now on stream. Sakhalin LNG is produced at train 1 with train 2 scheduled to come on stream later this year. This year and 2010 will see a gradual ramp-up to full production capacity. The newly built Sakhalin II infrastructure includes three offshore platforms, an onshore processing facility, 300 kilometres of offshore pipelines and 1600 kilometres of onshore pipelines, an oil export facility and the LNG plant. Practically all of the 9.6 million tonnes of annual production capacity of the LNG trains 1 and 2 has already been committed in long-term contracts to supply customers in Japan, Korea and other markets. "This is a key milestone, the culmination of many years of effort by the Russian federation, the Sakhalin Oblast, our shareholders and the thousands of Company and contractor staff who made it all possible," said Sakhalin Energy's chief executive Ian Craig. He added "Russia has marked its entry into the Asia Pacific LNG market and Japan has a new long term energy partner." Sakhalin Energy was set up in 1994 for implementation of the Sakhalin II Project. The shareholders of the company include Gazprom (50% + 1 share), Royal Dutch Shell (27.5% - 1 share), Mitsui (12.5%) and Mitsubishi Corporation (10%).