TotalEnergies Ditches Sanctioned Russian Arctic LNG 2 Stake

French energy company TotalEnergies has divested its 10% stake in the sanctioned Russian Arctic LNG 2 project to Nordline, a subsidiary of Novatek. The transfer was announced by TotalEnergies' press office on Thursday. According to the agreement, TotalEnergies retains the right to seek reimbursement from Arctic LNG 2 for its share of the loans provided by the project's shareholders, amounting to approximately $1.3 billion.

The Arctic LNG 2 project was built on the Gydan Peninsula in northern Siberia and is being developed by Novatek, Russia's largest private natural gas producer. The project was intended to become Russia's largest LNG export facility, with an expected production capacity of 19.8 million metric tons of LNG and 1.6 million metric tons of stabilized gas condensate per year.

However, after the US and other Western countries imposed sanctions on the project in response to Russia's war against Ukraine, its Western partners suspended their participation. Russia continued developing the project on its own but was forced to limit output. Two of the three planned production trains are currently in operation.