Moscow — Russian gas producer Novatek supplied about 70,000 metric tons of gas condensate to the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk in September amid the shutdown of its Ust-Luga gas condensate complex, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
A drone attack caused a fire at Novatek’s complex early on August 24 leading all operations, including fuel export loadings, to be fully shut for several days. Late in August operations were partially restored.
The Ust-Luga complex refines stable gas condensate into light and heavy naphtha, jet fuel, ship fuel component (fuel oil) and gasoil. The shutdown of two of three processing units forced the company to resume gas condensate exports, looking for alternative export routes.
The condensate was part of a 140,000-tonne cargo loaded onto the vessel Tataki on September 16 from Novorossiisk, the sources said. It was blended with crude oil supplied by CenGeo and exported as Siberian Light — a low-sulphur crude grade typically shipped from Novorossiisk, the sources said.
According to LSEG shipping data, Tataki is currently en route to the Suez Canal. The final destination of the cargo was not immediately clear, but one of the sources said the vessel may be heading to India.
Novatek and CenGeo did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Susan Fenton – Reuters
