Russian independent producer Novatek has signed a share purchase deal with France’s TotalEnergies under which the latter will take a stake in its two LNG transshipment complexes.
TotalEnergies purchased a 10 percent participation interest in Novatek’s unit Arctic Transshipment that will operate the complexes currently under construction in the Kamchatka and Murmansk regions.
The deal follows a heads of agreement the duo signed in April.
“The transshipment facilities will ensure the optimal utilization of our ice tanker fleet and reduce the cost of transport to consuming markets for the company’s existing and future LNG projects,” Novatek’s Leonid Mikhelson, said.
“The entry of our long-term partner TotalEnergies into the LNG transshipment project will enhance the competitiveness of our joint projects and contribute to the successful development of our LNG logistics chain in accordance with best industry practices in environmental protection and climate change mitigation,” he said.
The Arc7 ice-class LNG tankers will transfer cargoes from Arctic LNG 2 but also other Novatek’s projects to conventional tankers at each of the two locations.
Moreover, each transshipment complex will have a floating LNG storage unit with a capacity of 360,000 cubic meters with two ship-to-ship transshipment points.
Novatek and TotalEnergies are already partners in both the Yamal LNG project and the Arctic LNG 2 development.
TotalEnergies also has a 19.4 percent stake in Novatek.
