Satellite Images Reveal Novatek Terminal And Tank Farm Rising In Kola Bay
Industrial facilities under construction across the water from Russia's Northern Fleet headquarters at Severomorsk form part of the Murmansk LNG project, Novatek has confirmed, as satellite imagery shows major gas reservoir tanks and a sea terminal taking shape at Belokamenka. The construction area covers around one square kilometre and includes at least fifteen reservoir tanks, with a new terminal facility being built on the shores of the Kola Bay. Most of the work has been carried out over the past year.
Imagery captured on 28 July 2026 shows the extent of the works at the northeastern end of Belokamenka. The site sits immediately adjacent to the LNG Construction Centre where Novatek builds the gravity-based production structures used in its Arctic projects, roughly ten kilometres from the city of Murmansk. The Northern Fleet headquarters at Severomorsk lies about five kilometres away, and the naval bases of Polyarny and Olenya Guba around fifteen kilometres distant, placing a major civilian energy project inside one of the most heavily militarised coastal areas in the Arctic.
A company representative confirmed that the new tanks and terminal form part of the wider infrastructure required for Murmansk LNG, saying the terminal and the plant are planned to sit close together, with the terminal between the village of Belokamenka and the Kulonga River and the plant in the immediate vicinity of the construction centre, so that infrastructure already established for the centre can be reused. The reservoirs are membrane-type tanks of the kind normally used in gas carriers.
The construction proceeds against mounting pressure on the company. Major parts of Novatek's Arctic plants, vessels and infrastructure carry international sanctions, and significant delays and project changes have been reported across its portfolio. The heavily sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project on the Gydan Peninsula produces only a fraction of its projected capacity, and the company continues to face serious difficulties building the ice-capable vessels required to move cargoes through Arctic waters. European Union sanctions already prevent sales of Arctic LNG 2 volumes to European buyers, and from 2027 the ban will extend to Yamal LNG and all other Russian LNG.
Novatek says the first two production units at Murmansk LNG are to be completed by late 2027 and a third before 2030, giving a combined annual capacity of 20.4 million tonnes, supported by a connecting gas pipeline from Torzhok in central Russia. The project was reportedly approved by the Kremlin in late 2023 in a meeting between the president, the company's leadership and senior federal officials. Whether it can proceed as planned remains highly uncertain, and the visible progress on tanks and a terminal says more about intent than about the availability of buyers or ships.
