Firms to study Barents Sea LNG transport

Sept. 26, 2005
Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd. and Itochu Corp. of Japan plan to work with Russia's Gazprom to develop a plan for transporting LNG to North America from the port of Murmansk on the Barents Sea.

Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent

LOS ANGELES, Sep 26 -- Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd. and Itochu Corp. of Japan plan to work with Russia's Gazprom to develop a plan for transporting LNG to North America from the port of Murmansk on the Barents Sea.

The aim is to operate a fleet of 15 large LNG carriers to ship 15 million tonnes/year of LNG from Russia to North America.

Mitsui OSK Lines and Itochu have developed a tentative plan as the basis for discussions, and the companies will now develop a detailed strategy.

Gas would come from Shtokman gas condensate field in the Barents Sea.

The contract for transporting the LNG could be signed as early as spring 2006, with operations scheduled to begin in 2010.

The 1,400 sq m Shtokman field, discovered in 1988 east of Murmansk, lies north of the Arctic Circle in 350 m of water about 555 km from land.

Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].