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Eastern Europe
July 26, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 15
Novatek closes Arctic LNG-2 deal with Chinese and Japanese investors
Russia's second largest natural gas extractor and liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer Novatek closed the deal to sell 30% in its next LNG project to Chinese and Japanese investors, the company said on July 22.
As reported by bne IntelliNews, the Russian company first offered the deal to sell a 10% stake in Arctic LNG-2 to its French strategic partner, energy major Total.
Then in April Novatek cashed in by selling 20% in Arctic LNG-2 to Chinese CNOOC and CNODC, with 10% stake sold to each. Last month the remaining 10% was pledged to a consortium of Japanese Mitsui and JOGMEC.
The head of Novatek, Leonid Mikhelson, also confirmed the company's intention to maintain
a 60% stake in Arctic LNG-2, which would mean that Saudi Aramco's interest in the project will be left unsatisfied.
Previous reports suggested that a 30% stake was the subject of negotiations with Saudi Aramco, while companies from Japan and South Korean KOGAS were also interested in acquiring a share in the plant.
In June Saudi Aramco reiterated its interest in the project, despite claims that it pulled out of the negotiations. Under the $21bn Arctic LNG-2 an LNG plant will be built in three stages with 6.6mn tonnes annual capacity each.
Transneft sets compensation for dirty oil, Rosneft to benefit
Russian state oil pipeline monopoly Transneft has set the compensation for oil companies that sent their crude through the contaminated Druzhba pipeline at $15 per barrel, Transneft said on July 24.
As reported by bne IntelliNews this month, the contaminated oil from the troubled Druzhba pipeline that damaged the equipment of European refineries has been pumped back to Russia from the Belarus part of the pipeline and could be dealt with by the domestic downstream sector.
The compensation will be available upon provision of "documentation on losses inflicted."
Previous estimates put the amount of chlorine- contaminated oil in Druzhba at 3mn-5mn tonnes, with Transneft arguing for the lower band of the estimate, and Belarusian operator of the pipeline GomelTransNeft Druzhba for the higher.
The compensation is thus estimated to be in
the $330mn-$550mn range. In April, when the contamination in the pipeline peaked, the largest supplier of oil to Druzhba was state-controlled Rosneft with 78% of the total pumped volume, according to Vedomosti daily citing the data of CDU TEK. Thus Rosneft could get up to $257mn in compensation.