Novatek: 2021 natural gas and LNG production and sales climbed

Russia’s natural gas producer Novatek published its 2021 preliminary operating data showing that both production and sales of natural gas, including LNG, went up compared to 2020.

Preliminary 2021 total natural gas sales volumes, including volumes of LNG, aggregated 75.81 billion cubic metres (bcm), representing an increase of 0.3 per cent as compared to 2020.

The natural gas volumes sold in the Russian Federation were 67.87 bcm, representing an increase of 1.8 per cent as compared with the prior-year period. On the other hand, LNG volumes sold on international markets amounted to 7.94 bcm, representing a decline of 11.1 per cent.

Novatek says this decrease was mainly due to the increase in Yamal LNG direct sales under long-term contracts. Also, here was a corresponding decrease in Yamal shareholders’ share of LNG volumes sold on the spot market.

The company processed 12.8 million tonnes of unstable gas condensate at the Purovsky Processing Plant, representing an increase of 8.8 per cent. It further processed 7.0 million tonnes of stable gas condensate at the Ust-Luga Complex, representing a slight decrease of 0.7 per cent in volumes processed at the facility in 2021.

On 31 December 2021, Novatek had 0.9 bcm of natural gas, including LNG, and 660 thousand tonnes of stable gas condensate and petroleum products in storage or transit.