FRANCE’S GTT CEASES ITS ACTIVITIES IN RUSSIA

French engineering group Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) said it was stopping its activities in Russia after analyzing the latest European sanction packages that include a ban on engineering services with Russian firms.

The group said its contract with Russian shipbuilding company Zvezda for 15 icebreaking liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers would be suspended and activities limited on the two most advanced ones. The French manufacturer said its order book would no longer include projects in Russia, adding that it has other orders under construction in Asian shipyards, notably six ice-breaking LNG carriers and two FSUs, which are intended specifically for Russian Arctic projects. GTT is the world leader in cryogenic membrane containment systems used in the shipbuilding industry for the transport of LNG. The containers produced by the company are necessary for the safe storage of fuel in large volumes at temperatures up to -163 C. Those most in jeopardy following the company’s withdrawal are Russia’s LNG projects in the Arctic. These include Yamal LNG in northwestern Siberia, which accounted for 5 percent of global LNG exports in 2020,

Arctic LNG-2 worth about $23 billion, as well as Sakhalin-2. LNG supplies have been widely sought after Gazprom reduced and then halted flows into Europe through Nord Stream 1 in the summer of 2022. During the first nine months of 2022, Europe’s LNG imports from Russia increased by 50 percent. ■

12 January 2023