TotalEnergies Pulls Out of Russia's Novatek with $3.7B Write-down

Tassilo Hummel and Dominique Vidalon
Friday, December 9, 2022

French oil giant TotalEnergies, one of the last Western holdouts in Russia after the war in Ukraine, said it was withdrawing its two members from Novatek's board and would take a $3.7 billion hit to write off the value of its stake in the Russian group. 

The charge brings the total impairments TotalEnergies has taken on its Russian holdings so far this year to $14.4 billion, still below the $25.5 billion pre-tax impairment rival BP took on the value of its Russian assets at the end of March. 

Unlike BP and Shell, TotalEnergies has held on to several investments in Russia after the country invaded Ukraine, and faced international sanctions for doing so. 

Among its Russian investments are a 19.4% stake in gas producer Novatek and minority holdings in liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG. 

"In view of the European sanctions in force since the beginning of the war, the two directors representing TotalEnergies on the board of directors of Novatek are led to abstain from voting in meetings of the board of directors of this company, in particular on financial matters," a statement from the company said. 

"Under these circumstances, the board of directors of TotalEnergies has decided to withdraw the representatives of the company from the board of PAO Novatek with immediate effect." 

It said it would also "no longer equity account for its 19.4% stake in Novatek", which in turn will result in TotalEnergies recording an impairment of approximately $3.7 billion in the fourth quarter. 

(Reuters - Reporting by Tassilo Hummel and Dominique Vidalon; writing by Silvia Aloisi)

Categories: Energy LNG Industry News Activity Europe Production Asia People & Company News

Related Stories

Azeri SOCAR Plans New Agreements with Oil and Gas Majors

TPAO, SOCAR and BP to Ink Caspian Sea Oil and Gas Production Deal

Turkey Discovers New Black Sea Gas Reserve

Borr Drilling Bags Three New Assignments for its Jack-Up Drilling Rigs

VARD Snags $125M Shipbuilding Deal for Subsea Construction Vessel

Woodside Inks Long-Term LNG Supply Deal with China Resources

Shell Launches Next Phase of Malaysia's Deepwater Project with First Oil Production

Valeura Wraps Up Infill Drilling Campaign in Gulf of Thailand

Shell Predicts 60% Rise in LNG Demand by 2040 with Asia Leading the Way

SLB Names Raman CSO, CMO

Current News

MODEC, Carbon Clean to Advance FPSO-Mounted Carbon Capture Tech

Aker Solutions, PTAS JV Hooks Brownfield Services Extension off Brunei

CDWE Wraps Up Pin Pile Installation Job for Taiwanese Offshore Wind Farm

BP Expands Oil and Gas Scope in Azerbaijan with New Projects and Exploration Rights

Azeri SOCAR Plans New Agreements with Oil and Gas Majors

TPAO, SOCAR and BP to Ink Caspian Sea Oil and Gas Production Deal

Fugro Lands Deepwater Gas Field Job in Southeast Asia

OMV Exits Ghasha Gas Project off UAE with Lukoil Stake Sale

China's Sinopec Laucnhes $690M Hydrogen Venture Capital Funds

CIP, ACEN Partner Up for First Large-Scale Offshore Wind Farm in Philippines

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com