UK receives first shipment from new Russian LNG project

The first tanker carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a new Russian plant in the Siberian Arctic has docked in Britain, the National Grid operator said on Friday. The shipment - estimated at some 170,000 cubic metres - arrived on the Christophe de Margerie tanker in the Isle of Grain port, east of London, at 1920 GMT on Thursday, a National Grid spokeswoman told AFP.
Bought by Petronas LNG UK, the British arm of Malaysian group LNG, the delivery was the first from the $27-million LNG terminal, opened by Russian president Vladimir Putin in the port of Sabetta on the Yamal peninsula 20 days ago. The Yamal project is majority-owned by the Novatek group, currently under sanction by the US in retaliation for Russia's involvement in Ukraine.
Other investors include French oil and gas group Total, as well as the Chinese state-owned CNPC and Silk Road Fund. Russia is already the world's largest gas exporter, and is hoping to surpass Qatar as the world's biggest exporter of LNG. The chilled fuel is now being stored in the UK, but it is not intended for domestic consumption and will be sold on elsewhere, the National Grid spokeswoman said.