TOT TOTAL SE

By Sarah Kent 

LONDON -- French oil giant Total SA signed a deal Thursday to take a 10% stake in a massive Russian gas project, doubling down on controversial efforts to ship supercooled natural gas from the country's Arctic peninsula.

The move builds on Total's position in the region, giving it a massive stake in a project that is expected to eventually produce 535,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

The company is already involved in the region's flagship liquefied natural gas project Yamal, and owns a 19% stake in both projects' majority owner, PAO Novatek.

Including its interest in Novatek, Thursday's deal takes Total'a stake in the so-called Arctic LNG 2 project to more than 20%.

Total said a final investment decision on the project is likely to come in 2019, though it may face some challenges finding finances because of U.S. sanctions on Novatek.

Write to Sarah Kent at sarah.kent@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 24, 2018 16:49 ET (20:49 GMT)

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