Russian President Vladimir Putin has cleared TotalEnergies to sell its 10% direct stake in the Arctic LNG 2 project to Russian company Nordline, according to a presidential decree published on Tuesday. The move potentially opens the door to one of the most significant Western exits from Russia's gas sector since the invasion of Ukraine.
TotalEnergies has been one of Novatek's closest foreign partners for more than a decade. Beyond the 10% direct holding in Arctic LNG 2, the French major owns 20% of the operational Yamal LNG project and retains a 19.4% shareholding in Novatek itself. When Total bought into Arctic LNG 2 in 2019 it estimated its combined direct and indirect economic interest at roughly 21.6%.
Unlike BP, Shell and ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies largely kept its Russian LNG investments after February 2022, arguing that sanctions did not prohibit passive ownership. Independent investigations have since shown the company continued receiving income tied to its Russian LNG holdings, including dividends linked to Yamal LNG operations.
Arctic LNG 2 was designed to produce 19.8 million metric tons of LNG a year from three liquefaction trains, fed by a specialized fleet of Arc7 ice class carriers running along the Northern Sea Route. The first train was completed on schedule but output has been throttled by US and EU sanctions. The second train is only partially built, with one production string finished, and work on the third train has been largely suspended since 2024.
For the broader LNG market the decree matters less for volumes today than for what it signals. Moscow is now willing to let a flagship Western partner walk away from a project it once treated as strategic, while sanctioned Russian LNG cargoes continue to struggle for buyers and for compliant shipping. The exit, if it closes, leaves Novatek even more reliant on domestic capital and on a shrinking pool of friendly buyers in Asia.