BELOKAMENKA, June 7. /TASS/. Russian independent gas producer Novatek confirmed it is exploring an opportunity of building a natural gas liquefaction plant in the Murmansk Region, the company's CEO Leonid Mikhelson told reporters on Tuesday.

"We are considering an opportunity of implementing the next project here, in Murmansk. Three trains of 6.8 mln metric tons [each] can be accommodated there, with two of them planned to be commissioned as early as in 2027 and 2029," the chief executive said.

According to Mikhelson, Murmansk LNG may use electricity from the surplus Kola NPP, and gas from the plant can be shipped by tankers without ice-class protection. "This solves two tasks at a time. There is a significant surplus of [electricity] generation in the region - about 1 GW, mainly at the Kola NPP. We can use these reserves for our project. And, most importantly, the ice-free water area will allow for the shipment of products by tankers without ice-class protection," he added.

The company's Center for Construction of Large Offshore Facilities (CCLOF), located in the Murmansk Region's Belokamenka village, will be able to begin the construction of an LNG plant train in 2024, he continued. "As you have seen today, the Center can build two liquefaction trains at a time. From next year - 2024 - a dry dock at the Center will be available for the construction of the next project's first train."

About electricity supplies

Novatek has been formalizing future electricity supplies from the Kola NPP. "We have discussed the supply of electricity with Rosatom and Rosseti - they hail the consumption of the available unused capacities. We have been legally formalizing these future supplies for an investment decision procedure," he said.

However, the construction of the Volkhov - Murmansk gas pipeline is necessary for investment in the LNG plant, he stressed. "Additionally, for the investment decision purposes, we need to build a long Volkhov - Murmansk gas pipeline, about 1,300 km, which will provide the project with resources. Its construction will be carried out within Novatek's project."

Investments in Novatek's Center, which is building the Arctic LNG -2 gas liquefaction train, have exceeded 220 billion rubles ($2.7 billion), the company's representative said. "It is important to understand that the trains' construction phase already gives the GDP an increase of 0.15%. After the plant is put into operation, the export of every 10 million tons will add 0.2% to the GDP annually," he added.

Russia needs to make additional decisions regarding LNG projects for about 30 million tons to comply with the plans to bring the country's share in the global liquefied natural gas market to 20% from the current 9%, he stressed. "Over recent 10 years, the global gas market has grown by an average of 2%, with about 80% of this growth being provided by LNG," he said, adding that LNG accounted for more than 50% of cross-country gas supplies in 2021 compared to 27% in 2000. The LNG market is expected to continue growing due to consumers in Asia.