UPDATE: Novatek closes sale of 10% in Arctic LNG-2 to France’s Total

(Adds comments by antimonopoly service)

MOSCOW, Mar 7 (PRIME) -- Russian independent gas producer Novatek has closed a deal to sell a 10% stake in the Arctic LNG-2 (liquefied natural gas) project to French energy company Total, Novatek said late on Wednesday.

As a result of the deal, Novatek’s stake in the project fell to 90%, it said.

The Arctic LNG-2 plant will be launched in 2022–2025 and fields of the Gydan Peninsula in the north of West Siberia will become its resource base. The cost of the plant is U.S. $27 billion. The facility is expected to produce 19.8 million tonnes of LNG per year.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service said the deal does not require an approval by the watchdog and by the government commission on foreign investment control.

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