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France's TotalEnergies said on 27 August that it had completed the transfer of its 10 % interest in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer Arctic LNG 2 LLC, with the stake passing to NordLine LLC.

NordLine, according to TotalEnergies, is a subsidiary of Novatek.

TotalEnergies is therefore no longer a shareholder in Arctic LNG 2, the company stressed in its statement. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised the buyback of TotalEnergies' stake.

The French company nevertheless retains the right to recover its share of the loan financing it provided to the project, amounting to about USD 1.3 billion. Such reimbursement may be made in the future, subject to applicable sanctions, the statement said.

NordLine is the principal shareholder in Arctic LNG 2. Following the buyback of TotalEnergies' stake, it holds 70 % of the shares. The Chinese companies CNPC and CNOOC each hold 10 %, and a further 10 % belongs to a Japanese consortium of Mitsui and JOGMEC.

The Arctic LNG 2 plant extracts and liquefies natural gas at the Utrenneye field on the Gydan Peninsula in the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous district. The project provides for the construction of three trains for the production of LNG, each with a capacity of 6.6 million tonnes per year. The first train came on stream in 2024. TotalEnergies entered the project in 2018, paying about USD 2.55 billion, with a further roughly USD 1.5 billion expected in investment in the LNG project, which shareholders were to contribute in proportion to their holdings.

In 2022, after the military conflict in Ukraine erupted, TotalEnergies wrote down the value of all its Russian assets, including the USD 4.1 billion at which it had valued its stake in Arctic LNG 2, after which it said it had ceased to receive any income from the project.

In November 2023, the US Treasury added Arctic LNG 2 LLC to its sanctions list. In mid-December 2023, it emerged that Novatek had declared force majeure on deliveries to some of its buyers because of the US sanctions.