Yamal LNG's slow sailing

The development is moving ahead, but Russia’s broader LNG-export plans are off course

THREE years ago, Russia announced bold plans to raise liquefied natural gas-export capacity from 10m tonnes a year, all from one plant, to as much as 40m t/y by 2020. No longer. Western sanctions and an over-supplied market have almost certainly done for what was always an ambitious aim, even for the world’s natural gas superpower. Just one new project is now moving ahead and others remain under discussion. Novatek’s Arctic project hasn’t been trouble-free either. Sanctions have complicated the firm’s plan to finance the $27bn Yamal LNG development in the Arctic. One of Novatek’s co-owners, Gennady Timchenko, a close associate of President Vladimir Putin, was explicitly targeted by the US’ s