French energy giant TotalEnergies said Thursday it could soon transfer its 10 percent stake in the Arctic 2 liquefied natural gas project, which has been hit by US sanctions, to the majority shareholder Novatek.
The disposal would reduce but not eliminate TotalEnergies's involvement in Russia as it still has a stake in another Arctic LNG field and shares in Novatek.
After being approached by Novatek, TotalEnergies is now "engaged in discussions to transfer our 10 percent stake in Arctic LNG 2 to one of its subsidiaries, NordLine," the French firm's chief executive Patrick Pouyanne told a presentation of the company's quarterly results.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, most Western companies quickly sold off their Russian operations and holdings, or at least isolated them, as Western sanctions have made trading in most goods difficult.
Russia has since made it difficult for firms to leave, requiring presidential authorisation for deals, which Pouyanne said TotalEnergies received last month.
"We have notified our partners and lenders, and we expect that the transfer process initiated by Novatek will be completed in the near term," AFP quoted Pouyanne as saying.
He said the transfer was in the interest of both companies, and that TotalEnergies wrote down the value of its stake by $4.1 billion in 2022.
Novatek, which was founded in 1994, has been TotalEnergies's main partner in Russia and they jointly launched in 2013 the massive Yamal natural gas field in Siberia from which they ship LNG to Europe.
TotalEnergies holds a 19.4 percent stake in Novatek and a 20 percent stake in Yamal.
