"We will begin starting-up and adjustment testing in March, and launch [the fourth production train] in the first half of the year … We will launch another 1 million tonnes [in terms of production]. We are heading toward more than 19.5 million tonnes of LNG production at Yamal LNG," Mikhelson said at a briefing at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
With regard to the energy giant's other projects, Michelson said that it plans to launch the first production train of the Obskiy LNG plant in late 2022-early 2023, followed by a second unit 6-9 months later, with each expected to have an annual capacity of 2.5 million tonnes.
In 2023 the Novatek CEO also plans to launch the first train of Arctic LNG 2.
Speaking about projections for this year, Michelson expects the production of gas and liquid hydrocarbons to rise by 1.5-2 percent.
According to preliminary data, Novatek increased gas production by 8.6 percent year-on-year in 2019 to 74.7 billion cubic meters (2.6 trillion cubic feet). Overall, the company boosted its hydrocarbon production by 7.5 percent to 590.1 million barrels of oil equivalent. Production of liquid hydrocarbons was up by 2.9 percent, totalling 12.15 million tonnes.
Novatek entered the LNG business in 2017 with its large-scale Yamal project, followed by its Arctic LNG 2 project. Gas is extracted from fields located in Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area.