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“We expect the transfer process initiated by Novatek to be completed in the near term,” Pouyanne told analysts during the TotalEnergies second-quarter call on Thursday.
Besides a stake in the Arctic LNG 2 project, TotalEnergies also has stakes in Novatek and the Yamal LNG project.
In December 2022, TotalEnergies wrote down its 19.4 percent stake in Novatek and withdrew the representatives of the company from the board of Novatek.
In January 2024, TotalEnergies initiated a force majeure process on the Novatek-operated Arctic LNG 2 project.
A unit of Novatek recently received Russian approval to buy the 10 percent stake in the Arctic LNG 2 project from TotalEnergies.
NordLine has been approved to buy the stake from TotalEnergies EP Salmanov, a unit of TotalEnergies.
“Novatek approached us, indeed, and initiated discussions for the transfer of a 10 percent stake in Arctic LNG 2 to one of their own subsidiaries, NordLine. And this has been publicly authorized, as you noticed, by a special decision of the Russian President in June,” Pouyanne said during the call.
“In fact, given this context of Arctic LNG 2, we, on our side, consider that it’s in the joint interest of TotalEnergies and Novatek to dispose of our Arctic LNG 2 share, which, again, was fully impaired in 2022. We have notified our partners and lenders.. So, the Arctic LNG 2 chapter will be over for TotalEnergies in such a context,” Pouyanne said.
Sanctions
The Arctic LNG 2 project, in which Novatek holds a 60 percent operating stake, has been severely impacted by sanctions imposed by the EU and the US.
Novatek delivered the second gravity-based structure platform from its yard near Murmansk to the site of the Arctic LNG 2 project located on the Gydan peninsula in August 2024.
The company completed the second GBS despite sanctions by the US, the EU, and the UK related to the Arctic LNG 2 project and LNG carriers.
The first GBS left the Belokamenka yard in July 2024, and Novatek completed the installation on the underbase foundation on the seabed at the Utrenniy terminal in August of the same year.
The first and second GBS each have a capacity of about 6.6 mtpa.
