Valery Limarenko, the Governor of the Sakhalin Region, opened the plenary session informing the participants about the hydrogen producing project for building the plant to become the element of the Eastern hydrogen cluster. “The commissioning of the first stage of the plant with 30 thou tons per annum (ktpa) output is scheduled for the end of 2026, and reaching the rated capacity of 100 kt – for 2030”, Limarenko said. According to him, the share of Russian technologies in the project will constitute no less than 80%. In his speech, the Governor talked about three types of projects targeted at the energy sector development: Korsakov port upgrade and building multi-functional sea port in Novoye settlement in Makarovsky District; construction of the industrial oil-and-gas park, where 12 residents are registered already; and improving the level of the Sakhalin Region gasification from 57% in 2023 up to 100% in 2026. By 2026, the Sakhalin Region will be the first Russian region to assure carbon neutrality.
“Sakhalin is an advanced region from the standpoint of introducing new technology both in oil and gas production, and in the energy sector in general. Sakhalin is one of the pilot regions in Russia to implement the climate units trading scheme. It is also one of the leaders in promoting hydrogen economy, in setting up clusters to produce hydrogen and study the applications of this new type of energy. Sakhalin also is the trend-setter in the sphere of traditional energy sources, the leader in gasification and gas motor fuel usage, which shows not only in the economic performance of the region, but on the living standards of its residents, as well”, Pavel Sorokin, the First Deputy Energy Minister of the Russian Federation, emphasised in his presentation.
“The countries of the Asian-Pacific Region will provide for over 80% of the global growth of the gas market”, Pavel Zavalny, the Chair of the Energy Commission of the State Duma of the Russian Federation and the President of the Russian Gas Society, noted. China will remain the locomotive of this growth, where in 2022 15.5 bcm of natural gas were received via the Power of Siberia – 1 gas pipeline were received. By 2025, the gas supplies will grow up to 38 bcm. The Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok gas pipeline with more than 10 bcma throughput will be the new delivery channel for gas; it will be fed by the South Kirinskoye gas field on the continental shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk. Before starting the supplies, the cross-border section of the pipeline between the gas metering station close to the city of Dalnerechensk and the Hulin starting point in China. The future plan is integrating the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok gas pipeline with the Power of Siberia – 1, which will promote the growth of the domestic market together with gasification of the Far Eastern regions and the development of the gas-fueled transport.
Ilya Trunin, the Russian Government Deputy Chief of Staff, described the new laws to be adopted in order to promote the development of oil-and-gas and non-oil-and-gas projects in the Far East. Trunin attributed the improvement of the preferential tax regimes in the Arctic and in the Far East to such law-making initiatives (the territories of advanced development, Vladivostok free sea port, the Arctic zone), where the rules for allocating land plots will be adjusted; the amendments to the law on the state boundaries will be introduced releasing all the Russian cruise ships from abiding by the boundary regime regulations when calling the Far Eastern ports; and the territories of advanced development will be established, in which both Russian and foreign laws will apply.
Sergey Menshikov, the member of the Management Board – the PJSC Gazprom Department Director, described the offshore gas fields development in the proximity of Sakhalin with over 1 tln m3 of reserves. Sakhalin-2 project is already operating in the region, where the first major gas-to-liquids plant in Russia was built (producing LNG). At the same time, Gazprom is implementing Sakhalin-3 project targeted at the development of Kirinskoye and South-Kirinskoye gas field using the subsea gas production facilities. To do that, PJSC Gazprom will be using the equipment created jointly by more than 200 Russian enterprises.
Roman Dashkov, the Sakhalin Energy CEO, commented the outlook for the global gas market. “LNG will be the key driver for the global market development. As of today, the liquified natural gas remains the main tool for diversifying the gas export from any country”, Dashkov remarked. According to him, there are about 76 operational LNG producing plants all over the world with the total capacity of 472 mtpa. At the same time, there are countries with ambitious plans to expand LNG capacities. Thus, during the period between 2023 and 2032, the LNG projects with the overall capacity exceeding 700 mtpa will be launched. Simultaneously, the LNG fleet currently consisting of 720 tankers totaling 47 mln t of deadweight in LNG equivalent, will grow by 2028 by adding 295 vessels totaling 21 mln t of deadweight. “Of course, all those ambitious plans set by the global LNG industry should be analysed in the course of their implementation based on the dynamically changing realities. This is challenge for us in the race for leadership in the feedstock market. WE need to carefully evaluate our capabilities and intents. And to continue our work struggling for our share in the APR”, Dashkov emphasised.
Mikhail Konstantinov, the Gazprom Bank Executive Vice President, described the investment priorities of the bank on the Sakhalin Island. According to him, the total budget of the projects currently implemented in the region with participation of Gazprom Bank makes RUB 139.8 bln, the bank’s investment accounting for RUB 82.3 bln. This includes investment into the port, energy and educational infrastructure, as well as support of the oil and gas field services.
Grigoriy Vygon, the managing director of Vygon Consulting, analysed the outlook for the gas market expansion both in Russia and abroad. According to his estimates, by 2040, the domestic demand for gas may grow by 100 bcma, including due to gasification of the housing sector, building gas-fired CHPPs and launching new gas-to-chemicals plants. The external demand will be growing mainly due to the Asian-Pacific Region development, however, to a great extent, the supplies will be based on developing the tanker fleet and the LNG production technologies.
