TotalEnergies has signed a sale and purchase agreement on June 3 with Novatek to acquire 10% of Arctic Transshipment LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Novatek, which owns and will operate two LNG transshipment terminals being built in the Murmansk and Kamchatka regions of Russia. 

These terminals will provide export logistics services, including to the Arctic LNG 2 project under construction, and will each initially include a 360,000 m3 floating storage unit and two ship-to-ship transfer kits. They will allow for the transshipment of LNG from Arc7 ice class LNG carriers, which provide transport on the iced waters of the Arctic Ocean, to conventional LNG carriers, which take care of the remaining delivery. By limiting the use of Arc7 ice class LNG carriers, this optimization of the logistic reduces the costs and CO2 emissions of the LNG transport. 

TotalEnergies is a 19.4% shareholder in Novatek and holds a 20% stake in Yamal LNG, a project that started up in December 2017 and produced more than 18.8 million tons of LNG in 2020. The company also holds a 10% stake in Arctic LNG 2, a project currently under construction and on track to deliver its first LNG cargo in 2023.

"We are pleased to have signed this acquisition with Novatek, our long-standing strategic partner, which is in line with our strategy of integration along the entire LNG value chain. These terminals mark an important step in the advancement and consolidation of the Arctic LNG 2 project, and will contribute to the safe and sustainable export of cargoes from our existing and developing Yamal projects,”  Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, said.