Shipyard “Star” transfers the delivery of ice class tankers to 2025.
As it became clear to the correspondent of The Moscow Post, the Shipyard shipbuilding shipyard (otherwise called Sechinskaya), who is jointly controlled by Rosneft, Rosneftegaz and Gazprombank, again transfers the deadlines for the first two tankers of an increased ice class of the Arc7 for the Novatek project Arctic LNG-2. The first tanker can be transferred to Novatek only in early 2025. The news, and to say, is unpleasant, if you recall with what enviable perseverance the head of the Novatek company Leonid Michelson defended the right to build ice class tankers anywhere, but not to the sorceress of Sechin, with which he, as well as with the head of PJSC Gazprom, is in mutual love, and more often – in subcutaneous battles.
Moreover, in these permanent wars, Mr. Michelson, then plays on one “violin” – with Miller against Sechin, then with Sichin against Miller. 
That’s how they live …
1000 new working hands from Michelson
Today, Mr. Mikhelson has to involuntarily be friends with Mr. Sechin, since the Sechinsky shipyard “Zvezda” is building tankers for the Michelson office. And last spring, Novatek sent 200 engineers and installers to complete gas carriers to Zvezda.
And later – 300 more! And the number of employees of Novatek at the shipyard at Sechin increased to 500 people.
Shipyard “Star”. Photo: https://s0.rbk.ru/v6_top_pics/media/img/4/20/756178859692204.jpg
After all, the project “Arctic LNG-2”, where in August S.G. Shipments from the liquefaction line have begun, experiences great difficulties with the sale of parties due to customer failures to take goods, as well as just due to the lack of a tanker fleet. In total, for the export of LNG from the Arctic LNG-2 project, Novatek company has finished 21 ice class 21 tanker. The “Star” shipyard is building 15 of them.
Six more tankers are built at the Hanwha Ocean shipyard (former DSME, South Korea), but because of the sanctions, they are unlikely to be sown by Mikhelson.
Trap from Sechin
Let us return for a while in 2019, when there was a long battle between Rosneft and Novatek. Igor Sechin then very much lost on the construction of LNG-Tankers at the Zvezda shipyard.
Mr. Michelson really did not like the conditions that the Zvezda plant offered, especially did not like the price: it was much higher than that of South Korea shipbuilders, and 15 gas carriers were built at the South Korean shipyards.
On the intractable Michelson, Sechin complains to Putin and the Minister of Industry and Trade (at that time) Manturov.
Igor Sechin. Photo: https://cdn5.viewomosti.ru/image/2020/3z/lbplk/original-rmy.jpg
But all these attempts are still breaking on virtual ice: Michelson was allowed to use on the Northern Sea Route those LNG tankers that he already has.
And the big game continues … Michelson acts with a proposal to reduce interest rates for the construction of 15 LNG-tankers at the Sechin shipyard for the Arctic LNG-2 project. Novatek company wanted to continue to build vessels for the Arctic LNG-2 project in South Korea, but as a result, orders gave Sichin to the Zvezda shipyard. This was reported TASS.
Sechin’s plans worked: Michelson fell into a trap.
But, we will focus on this: unlike Sechin, who disposes of Rosneft’s money with a large share of state ownership, Michelson is the owner of a private company. And he needs to calculate every step. That is why Michelson at one time did not enter the consortium of the investors of the Shipyard Shipyard. For which then I got a harsh catch up from Putin.
Yamal: Gazprom in the role of “dog” in the hay
After a memorable dragon with Sechin in 2019, in 2021 Mr. Mikhelson had to butt with Mr. Miller: two gas giants collided with his foreheads on Yamal.
Alexey Miller. Photo: https://stcdn.business-online.ru/v2/22-06-17/48982/f515357e.jpg
Michelson and Miller had a conflict due to deposits on Yamal, we are talking about the deposits of the Tambia cluster. This was reported RBC.
The development license belongs to Gazprom, back in 2007, the company received deposits without a competition and made plans to pump gas stocks around the pipeline. However, the company has not begun industrial development. In 2017, Novatek tried to buy a gas cluster from Gazprom.
On Yamal, Michelson is located the main asset – the Yamal LNG plant, so for Novatek the purchase of a Tambere cluster would be by the way. But Gazprom stopped all the competitor’s attempts to receive deposits. The Tambia group is idle: a license for subsoil use by Gazprom ends in 2028.
Novatek is trying to carry out the new visit in 2021. Then Michelson personally came to an appointment with Putin, requested the purchase of a cluster from Gazprom. And he was able to convey his arguments, they say, it would be more profitable for gas not to the pipe, but to LNG reservoirs.
But Miller was again against! He rested, as they say, a horn.
Who will “warm” Kamchatka?
And now Mikhelson and Miller “met” in Kamchatka, since the plans for gasification of Kamchatka are shifted for a year.
And again the showdown began: neither Gazprom nor Novatek want to take responsibility for the gasification of the Kamchatka Territory. The dispute of Gazprom with Novatek about the gasification of Kamchatka once again highlighted the problem: neither export monopolies nor the state do not want to build low -pressure networks in Siberia and in the Far East.
And due to the falling extraction of Gazprom in deposits and predicted consumption growth, there was a need for an alternative gas supply scheme.
The Governor of the Kamchatka Territory Vladimir Solodov not so long ago admitted that the bet on his own deposits did not work, since the assessment of the reserves was incorrect.
Vladimir Solodov. Photo: http://cdn.iz.ru/sites/default/files/styles/900×506/public/news-2020-09/kk309422.jpg.jpg?itok=aryv1sgd
As a result, the Government of the Russian Federation instructed Gazprom to supply LNG consumers from the Sakhalin-2 project, and the company Novatek-to build a marine regal terminal in the Bay of the Cancer Avachinsky Bay and 2 tanker-tanker-tanker. It reports about it RBC.
It was planned to contract LNG with Sakhalin-2 in the first quarter, but Gazprom did not.
Novatek was going to order the construction of tankers from scratch, but one of the options is the purchase of already built gas carriers.
In April 2024, at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev, the gas carriers had already been ordered. And for the construction of such tankers, a shipyard can be suitable for both Russia and the PRC.
It is important to note that Vladimir Putin asked Gazprom and Novatek to jointly work out the gas supply to the edge through the overload of Novatek LNG Terminal in the Bchehevin Bay. The terminal will pass the extracted and liquefied gas from the ice class gas carriers to ordinary ones for supplies to the countries of Juva.
But the construction of a 140-kilometer gas pipeline in Petropavlovsk Novatek considered it too expensive. But now Novatek is offered to build another terminal for 600 thousand tons in the Avachinsky Bay of Petropavlovsk.
But Novatek also does not want to lay pipes from it to the boiler room at his own expense. There is no desire to do this with Gazprom: the project in the company is considered obviously unprofitable.
Miller with Mikhelson is over again, and Kamchatka is waiting … And Michelson himself is now waiting for help from the “friend” of Sechin – when will the ice -class tankers be ready for the Zvezda shipyard?
