India’s Petronet LNG, ONCG Videsh in talks to buy stake in Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project

Indian energy companies Petronet LNG and ONGC Videsh are discussing buying a stake in Russia’s planned liquefied-gas project Arctic LNG 2. This development comes as the country is seeking to secure supplies of clean fuel.

The companies are talking about acquiring a 9.9 per cent stake from Novatek PJSC. So far, no final decisions have been made, as per a member of the Indian energy delegation in Moscow, according to a report in Bloomberg.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision is to transform the economy into one powered by clean fuel. The share of the super-chilled fuel is likely to double to 15 per cent of the country’s energy mix by 2030.

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri told reporters at a briefing in Moscow that Indian companies are in contact with Novatek for Arctic LNG 2. He headed the energy delegation at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok last week.

Novatek is Russia’s largest producer of LNG and owns 60 per cent in the $11-billion Arctic project, along with France’s TotalEnergies SE, China National Petroleum Corp and Cnooc Ltd and a Japanese consortium that have 10 per cent each.

Indian state-run companies have invested $16 billion in Russian oil and gas projects including Sakhalin-1, Vankor and Taas-Yuryakh.

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