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Total joins with Novatek in ‘strategic partnership’
Business digest: French and Russian energy companies’ alliance poses threat to Gazprom
Total, the French energy giant, is buying a 12 per cent stake in Russian gas company Novatek for $4bn as part of a "strategic partnership".
The move means Total will be represented on Novatek's board of directors, and also gives the French company a 20 per cent share in Russia's Yamal gas project in the Arctic.
The Yamal Peninsula is supposed to contain one of the earth's richest reserves of hydrocarbons. The world's largest gas producer, Russian state-owned company Gazprom, is also interested in the area.
Total's stake in Novatek, Russia's largest independent gas producer, will rise to 19.4 per cent in three years. The deal will be finalised in April.
Read a full report at AFP. ·
