No Yamal FID Until Next Year

Total will not make a final investment decision (FID) on the Yamal LNG project until next year, Total's head of gas and power has said.

Speaking at a gas conference in Paris, Philippe Sauquet said the company expected the decision to be taken in 2013, instead of the 2012 deadline the company had previously expected.

"We anticipate to be in a position to take the FID next year if the market is there," the Reuters news agency reports him as saying today.

Earlier this year, president of exploration and production for Total, Yves-Louis Darricarrere, stated that a decision on the Yamal project would be taken by the end of this year. However, Mr. Darricarrere did not also raise the possibility that the decision might be taken at the beginning of 2013 at the latest/

Total is one of two partners in the Yamal project, a massive Russian LNG project which is expected to reach production rates of 15 million tonnes at its peak in 2018. The gas will be produced from the massive South-Tambeyskoye field and then processed through an adjacent LNG plant.

Total holds a 20 per cent stake in the project. Partner Novatek holds the remaining 80 per cent stake.