Russia's gas giant Gazprom and the country's biggest independent gas producer Novatek said Tuesday they had signed a memorandum of cooperation to consider establishing joint ventures for the development of gas projects in the northern gas-rich Yamal and Gydan peninsulas in Siberia.
The two will consider establishing a joint venture based on the hydrocarbon resources at Gazprom's Tambei fields to increase LNG production in the Yamal peninsula, they said in separate statements.
Gazprom's three Tambei fields are estimated to hold around 1.56 trillion cubic meters of gas, sufficient to ensure LNG production of around 20 million mt/year, they said.
The initial plan is that Gazprom will hold a 75% stake in the project and Novatek the remaining 25%.
The companies also plan to establish a 50:50 joint venture based on Novatek's Utrenneye (Salmanovskoye) field to develop the existing assets on the Gydan peninsula, which is separated from the Yamal Peninsula by the Gulf of Ob.
"Gazprom and Novatek will formulate and approve an integrated program for developing their fields on the Gydan peninsula," they said.
The companies first announced in January a possible cooperation "to expand LNG production capacities near the port of Sabetta on the Yamal peninsula through the development of new fields in the northern part of the peninsula" but gave no further details at the time.
A Novatek spokesman told Platts then that the companies believe it would be more expedient to build new LNG capacities as a separate project rather than within the Yamal LNG project developed by Novatek.
A 5 million mt/year LNG train, designed for the Yamal LNG, could be "replicated," he said at the time.
Novatek is developing the Yamal LNG project to build three LNG trains with a capacity of 5-5.5 million mt/year each. The first train is to be completed in late 2016. The second and third trains are to be built in 2013-2017 and 2014-2018, respectively.
Investments into the projects are estimated at around $18-20 billion.
The final investment decision for the Yamal LNG is expected to be taken by the end of 2012.
Novatek owns an 80% interest in the Yamal LNG, with the remaining 20% stake owned by France's Total. Novatek earlier said it plans to invite at least two more international partners to the project.
RESERVES BASE
Novatek's initial Yamal LNG project is based on the development of the company's South Tambeiskoye field, with reserves estimated at 1.3 Tcm of gas.
Gazprom, which owns a 10% interest in Novatek, holds licenses for the Tambei group of fields, which includes North Tambeiskoye, West Tambeiskoye and Tasiyskoye fields, and is close to the infrastructure to be built for the South Tambeiskoye field and the port of Sabetta.
Reserves at Novatek's Utrenneye field on the Gydan peninsula are estimated at 767.1 Bcm of gas.
Novatek received a license for the Utrenneye field, together with nearby Geofizicheskoye field, in 2011.
Novatek sees gas production at Utrenneye at over 20 Bcm by 2020, with combined gas production at the both fields, including Geofizicheskoye, amounting to around 30.4 Bcm by then.
Russia's energy ministry previously estimated that the resource base of the Yamal Peninsula allows increasing future LNG capacity in the region to 30-50 million mt/year from initially planned 15 million mt/year.
