Novatek Completes Sale of Yamal LNG Stake to CNPC

Russia's Novatek announced Tuesday that it has closed the sale of a 20-percent stake in the Yamal LNG Project to a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.

Following the completion of the deal Novatek will retain a 60-percent interest in the project, while France's Total and CNPC will each hold 20 percent. As part of the deal, CNPC will reimburse Novatek for a proportion of the costs that the Russian company incurred in the past.

Novatek Chairman Leonid Mikhelson commented in a company statement:

"The closing of the deal with CNPC is the culmination of our hard work and collective efforts. Our partners in Yamal LNG are now two well-established international companies with extensive expertise in the execution of large-scale oil and gas projects. We believe that the current shareholder structure of Yamal LNG allows us to successfully and timely complete the Project which has already entered into the active construction stage."