Vladimir Putin officially launched on Friday the Yamal LNG project in the Arctic—Russia’s second LNG plant and its push to challenge the dominance of Qatar and Australia, and the U.S. in the future, on the global LNG market. The first tanker from the US$27-billion project will be shipped to China’s CNPC, in what the majority holder of the project, Russia’s Novatek, said in October is “in recognition for their overall contribution to the project and the importance the Asian Pacific market represents as a key-consuming region.” Novatek is the majority shareholder of Yamal LNG with 50.1 percent, France’s oil and gas supermajor Total has 20 percent, CNPC holds another 20 percent, and China’s Silk Road Fund owns the remaining 9.9 percent. All LNG production will be sold to customers in Europe and Asia under 15- to 20-year contracts, Total says. Novatek, which has been on the U.S. list of […]