Russia’s Novatek Sells 10% Of Yamal LNG To Chinese Fund
Russia’s second-biggest gas producer Novatek is selling a 9.9 percent stake worth an estimated US$1.4 billion in its Yamal liquefied natural gas (LNG) project to a China’s Silk Road infrastructure fund, reports Reuters.
The deal, first discussed in August, was inked as part of a visit by President Vladimir Putin to Beijing to mark 70 years since the end of World War Two in Asia.
Following the completion of the deal, Novatek will own 50.1% stake in Yamal LNG, Total and CNPC will hold 20% each, while SRF will have a 9.9% stake in the Arctic LNG project.
“We consider Yamal LNG to be one of the most prospective and competitive LNG projects in the world. Such observation supports our interest in becoming its shareholder. We hope our entrance into the project will facilitate an expedited closing of the project’s general external financing, as well as contribute to further development of the Chinese-Russian cooperation in the energy sector,” President of SRF, Wang Yanzhi said.
Chairman of the Management Board of NOVATEK, Leonid V. Mikhelson stated “We welcome SRF’s entrance into the Yamal LNG project as another step forward in the mutually beneficial cooperation with our Chinese partners in the development of gas projects in the Russian arctic region”.
Yamal LNG project includes the construction of a liquefaction plant with annual capacity of 16.5 million tons per annum based on the feedstock resources of the South-Tambeyskoye field. The production from the LNG project is scheduled to start in 2017.
Silk Road Fund is a $40 billion medium to long term investment fund established in Beijing in December 2014. It makes outbound investment through both equity and debt financing. The fund focuses on infrastructure, energy, industrialization and financial cooperation that are vital to the connectivity of the Chinese economy with the rest of the world.
