FRANCE’S ENERGY COMPANY TOTAL JOINS $25 BILLION RUSSIAN ARCTIC LNG PROJECT

Illustrative image: Novatek

France’s energy company Total will buy a 10% stake in Russian Novatek’s LNG-2 project in the Arctic, Novatek’s chief, Leonid Mikhelson, said, according to Reuters.

The deal was signed during a visit of French President Emmanuel Macron visited Russia for the St. Petersburg economic forum. The deal for Arctic LNG-2 could be finalized in the first quarter of 2019. The project could be worth around $25.5 billion. The final investment decision may be made in the second half of 2019.

At the moment, Total holds a 20% stake in Novatek and is one of the partners developing the Russian company’s first LNG project in Yamal, along with Chinese CNPC and Silk Road Fund.

Yamal LNG became operational last December and has already shipped two million tons of LNG. When the facility is completed, it will have an annual capacity of 16.5 million tons of the liquefied fuel.

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