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TotalEnergies Generates $400 Million Annually From Russian LNG Sales, CEO Reveals
Summary
CEO Patrick Pouyanne disclosed that the French energy major earns around $400 million per year from selling Russian LNG cargoes, a revenue stream facing an impending EU ban.
TotalEnergies generates approximately $400 million in annual revenue from the sale of liquefied natural gas (LNG) sourced from Russia's Yamal LNG project, CEO Patrick Pouyanne told analysts on a results call Thursday. The French energy giant has retained its Russian LNG interests despite Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, though it has since deconsolidated the holdings from its financial reports.
Details on Russian Revenue
Pouyanne detailed two primary income streams from the company's Russian assets. The first is direct cash flow from lifting and selling LNG cargoes, which he said averages around $400 million per year. "The magnitude of this business is an average of $400 million, but it goes up and down because the contracts are linked to Brent (oil prices)," Pouyanne stated.
The revenue from these sales is booked by a UK-based entity and is not included in TotalEnergies' official financial reporting since the company deconsolidated its Russian holdings. The CEO noted that Brent crude prices have been volatile, directly impacting the profitability of these contracts.
Dividends and Sanction Hurdles
The second source of income is from dividends tied to its ownership stakes. TotalEnergies holds:
Ad- A 20% stake in the Yamal LNG plant
- A 19.4% stake in Novatek, Yamal's parent company
Pouyanne confirmed that some cash from these dividends has been distributed but acknowledged significant challenges in repatriating the funds. "It’s from time to time, and there’s not an easy way to do this because we respect sanctions and sanctions in Europe have limited the capacity to transfer from Russia to Europe," he said, without providing a figure for the amount repatriated to date. In 2024, Pouyanne had stated that approximately $600 million in annual dividends from Novatek were effectively stuck abroad.
Context and Impending Ban
Despite widespread corporate exits from Russia, TotalEnergies has maintained its holdings in the country's vast LNG facilities. European Union countries currently import record volumes of LNG from the Yamal plant, according to the source material. However, this revenue stream faces a definitive deadline, as the EU plans to ban Russian LNG imports starting next year as part of its sanctions framework.
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