Russia taking over ownership stakes in Arctic oil field

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia announced further moves Tuesday to take over foreign ownership stakes in energy projects, saying it would acquire the stock in an Arctic oil field now held by French and Norwegian companies.

The Russian government said it approved a proposal for the Russian oil firm Zarubezhneft to acquire the stakes of TotalEnergies of France and Equinor of Norway in the Kharyaga project in the Arctic. The move gives Zarubezhneft 90% of the projects shares, and the balance are held by another Russian company.

The Kharyaga oil project is operated under a product-sharing agreement, with Zarubezhneft serving as operator. Financial terms and other details of the transactions weren’t disclosed.

The acquisition is part of a divestment trend following foreign companies saying they would exit the Russian market because of the country’s military action in Ukraine.

On June 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree handing full control over a major oil and natural gas project partly owned by Shell and two Japanese companies to a newly created Russian firm.

The new company takes over ownership of the Sakhalin Energy Investment Co., which was nearly 50% controlled by British energy giant Shell and Japan-based Mitsui and Mitsubishi.