Dvorkovich: CNPC considering possible increase in Yamal LNG stake - FT
MOSCOW. May 5 (Interfax) - China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) may increase its stake in the Yamal LNG project in Russia, which is majority owned by Novatek , the Financial Times reported, citing Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.
"Novatek already has a Chinese partner in [the] Yamal LNG project and they have a 20 per cent share and they are considering increasing the share in the project," the newspaper quotes Dvorkovich as saying.
Russia's interest in raising Chinese financing for energy projects will be in focus this week during a bilateral summit meeting between the Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Moscow, it said.
Dvorkovich said an understanding was reached to resolve all Yamal LNG financing issues in the next few months during talks held in late April with his Chinese counterpart, First-ranked Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli.
Novatek declined to comment on the information.
Novatek has a 60% stake in the $27 billion Yamal LNG project, and French Total and CNPC each have 20%.
Novatek CEO Leonid Mikhelson said in mid-April that the company was in talks to sell a 9% stake in the project. "We aim to wrap up the negotiations before external financing commences," which the shareholders hope will occur by the middle of 2015, Mikhelson said.
Last month, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said the project participants were working to reach agreement on raising funds from Chinese banks totaling $10 billion-$15 billion (denominated in euro of yuan). CFO Patrick de La Chevardiere said later that a framework agreement had been signed with Chinese banks to provide $13.5 billion in financing and that talks were underway with European banks and Asian export credit agencies, which had also confirmed their interest in writing.
The shareholders had invested $10 billion as of April, including 75 billion rubles from the National Welfare Fund (NWF), and expect to receive a second tranche from the NWF in the second quarter.
The Yamal LNG project involves building a plant capable of producing 16.5 million tonnes of LNG from gas produced at the Yuzhno-Tambeiskoye field, where PRMS gas reserves totaled 927 billion cubic meters as of December 31, 2013. The project will also see construction of transport infrastructure, including a seaport and airfield, at Sabetta on the northeastern coast of the Yamal Peninsula.