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Floating energy: successfully unlocking stranded gas using FLNGs and FSRUs
24 Feb 2026
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Second liquefaction train under tow to Arctic LNG 2
Reports from Russia say sanctioned Russian LNG exporter Novatek is moving its second gravity-based structure (GBS) to the Arctic LNG 2 facility
Russian natural gas company Novatek, which is developing LNG export infrastructure on the Gydan peninsula, is making progress on the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 facility, according to UK-based Russian language news outlet Kommersant reports.
The news outlet said Novatek is currently towing the unit that will become the second LNG train at Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 facility from its shipyard in Murmansk to the Arctic site using the Northern Sea Route.
The GBS unit weighs in at more than 600,000 tonnes, according to Novatek, and will take three weeks to reach its destination.
The report said installation work is expected to begin mid-August. Novatek completed the towage and installation of its first LNG train on a similar schedule in August 2023, but the company’s activity has faced heavy sanctions from the end of 2023.
At the time, Novatek said the first GBS, at 330 m long, 152 m wide and 90 m tall, was "the heaviest object ever moved in the history of the global LNG industry".
"The 6.6-mta process train was towed by sea from the LNG Construction Center in the Murmansk Region to the Gydan Peninsula and was installed on the underbase foundation built on the seabed near the shore. The unique marine towing operation took only 22 days to complete," Novatek said.
The US, UK and EU have all levied sanctions targeting Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 in recent months.
In 2023, a round of US sanctions targeted Novatek’s flagship project, and in November, the US Assistant Secretary for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “Our objective is to kill that project. And we are doing that through our sanctions working with our partners in the G7 and beyond.”
Production from Arctic LNG 2 began in December 2023, even though in January 2024, Novatek had to issue force majeure notices to some customers who had been contracted to lift LNG from the project.
Novatek reportedly received a forece majeure notice from the three-train Arctic LNG 2 project in late November, which said the facility was unable to fulfil its production and delivery obligations due to the sanctions which have also led to a shortage of LNG vessels for loadings.
Novatek has a 60% operating stake in Arctic LNG 2, which would give the company 11.88M tonnes per year of supply across three trains. Novatek buyers whose contracts specified offtake from Arctic LNG 2 include Shell, Vitol, Repsol, Gunvor and China’s ENN, Zheijang Energy and Shenergy.
Novatek also has a deal with Japan’s JERA Global Markets for six Arctic LNG 2 cargoes, with deliveries expected to start this year.
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