France’s Total to invest in Russian LNG terminals in Arctic & Far East

The CEO of energy major Total has announced plans to buy a share in projects aimed at constructing terminals for transferring liquefied natural gas (LNG), led by Russia’s biggest independent gas producer Novatek.

According to Patrick Pouyanne, who also serves as chairman of the French energy giant, the company will buy a 10-percent stake in Novatek-led terminal projects in the Russian northwestern city of Murmansk and the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East.

“We have just announced that Total is investing into Arctic LNG-2, but we are also planning to invest into LNG terminals in Murmansk and Kamchatka. That’s part of our deal with Novatek,” Pouyanne said, as quoted by TASS.

The top manager said that both LNG hubs are vital for the development of the Arctic LNG-2 project.

The volume of annual transshipments through the future terminal in Murmansk will be 20 million tons of LNG, while the Kamchatka hub is set to facilitate the transfer of 40 million tons of LNG per year.

Total and Novatek have an ongoing relationship in LNG. The French firm owns 19.4 percent of Novatek, and 21.6 percent of the Yamal LNG project led by the Russian company. Earlier this year, the two corporations reached a deal allowing Total to acquire up to 15 percent direct interest in all LNG enterprises led by Novatek on the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas in the Russian Arctic.

The joint project is expected to produce 19.8 million tons of LNG per year at full capacity. The project’s overall costs are currently estimated at $9 billion, nearly half the initial $21 billion planned and about a third of the $27 billion spent on the Yamal LNG.

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