All news

Total set to take part in Novatek’s Arctic LNG-2 project — paper

Arctic LNG-2 is the second Novatek project for production of liquefied natural gas, in addition to Yamal LNG

PARIS, August 23. /TASS/. France’s oil and gas giant Total is set to join Russia’s Arctic LNG-2 project on the Gydan Peninsula, the country’s business paper, La Gazette de l’Eco Economie, reported on Wednesday.

"France’s biggest corporation Total is set to join the Arctic LNG-2, a new major project to produce liquefied natural gas, to be carried out by Russia’s Novatek company," the paper said.

According to La Gazette de l’Eco Economie, Total holds a 19-percent stake in Novatek, Russia’s second-largest natural gas producer. The two companies are partners in the Yamal LNG project.

Arctic LNG-2 is the second Novatek project for production of liquefied natural gas, in addition to Yamal LNG. The company intends to make an investment decision in 2019, and the launch of the first facilities of the Arctic LNG-2 is scheduled for late 2022 - early 2023.

According to the French paper, "the construction of a new liquefied natural gas plant as part of the Arctic LNG-2 project may begin in 2019, while the production will be launched in 2023."

"Total hopes that by that time the period of glut on the LNG market should be nearing completion, and the situation with the demand will be favorable. However, those timeframes still remain very uncertain, because the schedule of investment for late 2018 and early 2019 is yet to be determined," the paper said.

According to La Gazette de l’Eco Economie, the project, if completed, will have an annual output of 18 million tonnes of LNG (against Yamal LNG’s annual output of 16.5 million).

"In addition, according to present estimates, the project construction costs will be lower than those of the Yamal LNG, $10 billion against $27 billion," the paper said.

The paper says that, according to Novatek, the Arctic LNG-2 project will be based on Russian technologies and will thus be not affected by Western sanctions imposed on Russia.