The US State Department admitted that Washington is trying to disrupt the implementation of Arctic LNG-2

The United States is using sanctions to disrupt the implementation of the Arctic LNG 2 project, said US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Geoffrey Pyatt. As the newspaper writes The Wall Street JournalWashington has stopped deliveries of specialized tankers to Russia and is trying to complicate the construction of alternative vessels in the country.

“We want to ensure that Arctic LNG 2 is dead… We are very focused on ensuring that Russia is not able to develop new projects to redirect gas that it previously sent to Europe,” Mr. Payette said at a conference in Switzerland last week. .

The newspaper notes that some shipbuilding companies refuse to enter into contracts with Russia due to the risk of falling under secondary sanctions. South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean has canceled plans to build three ships for Arctic LNG 2. The Japanese Mitsui OSK Lines reported that it would not work with the Russian project, although it had previously been ready to charter three vessels.

Russia is trying to build tankers on its own, writes WSJ. However, lining gas storage facilities requires membrane systems, the development of which is specialized by the French company Gaztransport & Technigaz. In January 2023, she announced the cessation of work in Russia.

In early April, Reuters wrote that due to sanctions, NOVATEK may reduce the scale of Arctic LNG-2. The company plans to launch only two production lines, and transfer the third to the construction of a new plant in Murmansk.

Read more in the Kommersant FM article. “Arctic LNG-2 is shrinking in scale”.