SOCHI, February 15. /TASS/. Saudi Aramco and Novatek are working on an agreement on participation of Saudi Arabia in the LNG-2 natural gas liquefaction project, its signing is possible at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum or earlier, Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on the sidelines of the Russian Investment Forum in Sochi.

"A memorandum has been signed between Novatek and Saudi Aramco on various areas of cooperation. Now we are working on the Arctic LNG-2 project. Such an agreement can usually be signed at the St. Petersburg Forum, maybe earlier," he said.

Arctic LNG-2 is the second LNG plant of Russian independent gas producer Novatek. It will be implemented on the Gydan Peninsula. Its capacity will be 18 million tonnes of LNG per year (three trains each with the capacity of 6 million tonnes per year). The launch of the plant is expected in 2023.