TotalEnergies confirms it is ready to sell Arctic LNG 2 stake
France's TotalEnergies is ready to transfer its 10 % stake in the Arctic LNG 2 project to Nordline, a subsidiary of Novatek. TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanné said as much in a call with investors, according to Reuters.
The deal will be completed shortly, he said. In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised the buyout of TotalEnergies' stake in Arctic LNG 2.
Nordline is the project's main shareholder, with 60 %. China's CNPC and CNOOC hold 10 % each, as does a Japanese consortium of Mitsui and JOGMEC. The planned deal with TotalEnergies would raise the holding of Novatek's entities in Arctic LNG 2 to 70 %.
The Arctic LNG 2 plant produces and liquefies natural gas at the Utrenneye field on the Gydan peninsula in the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district. TotalEnergies entered the project in 2018, paying about USD 2.55 billion, with a further roughly USD 1.5 billion to come in investment in the LNG project, contributed by shareholders in proportion to their stakes.
In 2022, after the start of military conflict in Ukraine, TotalEnergies wrote off the value of all its Russian assets, including the USD 4.1 billion at which it valued its Arctic LNG 2 stake, and subsequently said it had stopped receiving any income from the project.
As Kommersant reported earlier, the terms of the deal between TotalEnergies and Nordline are not being disclosed, but the discount on Russian assets sold by foreign owners is usually 60 %, with an "exit tax" of 35 % on top.
In November 2023 Arctic LNG 2 came under US sanctions, after which all the foreign shareholders declared force majeure on their obligations. TotalEnergies retains stakes in Novatek itself and in the Yamal LNG project, which are not under sanctions. According to Kommersant's sources in the Russian government, there is no question at present of TotalEnergies exiting these assets. In February Pouyanné said TotalEnergies planned to remain a shareholder in Yamal LNG and to receive dividends even if an EU ban on imports of Russian gas forced it to terminate its contract to buy LNG from the plant.
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31.07.26