Novatek (russian: ПАО «НОВАТЭК», , ) is
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
's second-largest
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
producer (behind
Gazprom
PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...
), and the seventh-largest publicly traded company globally by natural gas production volume.
The company was originally known as OAO FIK Novafininvest. Novatek is based in the
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region in West Siberia, and maintains a sales office in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. In the 2020
Forbes Global 2000
The ''Forbes'' Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world, published by ''Forbes'' magazine. "The Global 2000" annual ranking is assembled by ''Forbes'' using a weighted assessment of four metrics: sales, profi ...
, Novatek was ranked as the 316th-largest public company in the world.
The company is not to be confused with Novatek Inc, a US company that produces synthetic diamonds for the oil and gas industry, or Novatek Microelectronics Corp., a supplier of display controller integrated circuits, or Novatek AS, a Norwegian engineering company.
Operations
In 2006, the company produced roughly thirty billion cubic metres (1.1 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas. By 2010, production had grown to , and in 2011 to
In 2010, Novatek supplied 13% of the domestic market and accounted for 32% of non-Gazprom production.
Total reserves amount to using the
Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
methodology.
Regarding dry sales gas, Novatek operates only in the domestic market, which is characterized by artificially low prices. Novatek's
earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization
A company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (commonly abbreviated EBITDA, pronounced , , or ) is a measure of a company's profitability of the operating business only, thus before any effects of indebtedness, stat ...
and net profit margin in 2011 were 49% and 32%, respectively.
The major gas field owned by Novatek is the
Yurkharovskoye field
The Yurkharovskoye gas field is a natural gas field located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. It was discovered in 1970 and developed by Novatek. It began production in 2003 and produces natural gas and condensates. The total proven reserve ...
.
[
] On 27 May 2009, Novatek bought a 51% stake in Yamal LNG from
Volga Resources, which controls the giant
South-Tambeyskoye field
The South-Tambeyskoye gas field is a natural gas field located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. It was discovered in 1974. The field is operated by Yamal LNG, controlled by Novatek. It produces natural gas and condensates.
The field was di ...
.
[
] On 2 July 2010, Novatek purchased Tambeyneftegas, which holds the licence to the Arctic
Malo-Yamalskoye field, located on the
Yamal Peninsula
The Yamal Peninsula (russian: полуостров Ямал, poluostrov Yamal) is located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of northwest Siberia, Russia. It extends roughly 700 km (435 mi) and is bordered principally by the Kara ...
and holding of natural gas and 14.4 million tonnes of gas condensate.
[
]
In June 2010 Novatek and
Gazprom
PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...
announced plans to build a
liquefied natural gas plant
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...
in
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
The Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (YaNAO; russian: Яма́ло-Не́нецкий автоно́мный о́круг (ЯНАО), ; yrk, Ямалы-Ненёцие автономной ӈокрук, ) or Yamalia (russian: Ямалия) is a fed ...
.
[
] Total S.A. will also be involved as a 20% shareholder.
[
]
In was announced in July 2010 that, together with Total S.A., Novatek is developing the
Termokarstovoye field in Yamal.
[
]
In December 2010, Novatek bought a 51% stake in
Sibneftegaz
Novatek (russian: ПАО «НОВАТЭК», , ) is Russia's second-largest natural gas producer (behind Gazprom), and the seventh-largest publicly traded company globally by natural gas production volume. The company was originally known as OAO ...
from
Gazprombank
Gazprombank (russian: Газпромбанк), or GPB (JSC), is a private-owned Russian bank, the third largest bank in the country by assets. Since November 2014, Yuri Shamalov's Gazfond is its largest shareholder.
The bank’s principal busine ...
(
Itera
ARETI International Group of Companies is a private energy company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. ARETI was created by Igor Makarov in 2015 as a result of rebranding of Itera International Group of Companies, which was started in 1992. T ...
owns 49% of the shares).
[
] Sibneftegaz holds licences for exploration and production in the Yamal-Nenets region, including for the
Beregovoye field
The Beregovoye Field is a natural gas field in the northeast of Purovsky District, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia. The field is developed by Sibneftegaz, a joint venture of Novatek and Itera. Sibneftegaz holds the exploration and develop ...
,
Pyreinoye field
The Pyreinoye gas field is a natural gas field located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. It was discovered in 2006 and developed by and Novatek. It began production in 2009 and produces natural gas and condensates. The total proven reserves ...
,
Zapadno-Zapolyarnoye field, and the Khadyryakhinskiy licence area.
[
] Sibneftegaz owns rights to develop oil and gas condensate fields with a total resource of 395.53 bcm of natural gas and 8.44 million tonnes of gas condensate.
[
]
In 2011, Novatek was awarded licences to develop the
Geofizichenskoye field,
Salmanovskoye (Utrenneye) field,
Severo-Obskoye field, and
Vostochno-Tambeiskoye field.
[
]
In addition, Novatek acquired these companies:
*
SNP Nova
SNP may refer to:
Computing
* SNP (complexity), in theoretical computer science
* SNP file format, for Microsoft Access reports
* Scalable Networking Pack, to extend Microsoft Windows Server 2003
* Secure Network Programming, a prototype Inte ...
– pipeline construction
*
Purneftegasgeologiya – natural gas
*
Tarkosaleneftegas – natural gas
*
Khancheyneftegas – natural gas
*
Yurkharovneftegas – natural gas
![Novatek Logo latin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Novatek_Logo_latin.svg)
It was announced in 2013 that Novatek would develop the
Sabetta
Sabetta (russian: Сабетта) is the location of a port and liquified natural gas (LNG) plant— Yamal LNG—on the Yamal Peninsula, in the north of Russia along the Northern Sea Route.
Location
The site chosen for the port is on the western ...
port, in a joint project with the Russian government. This port would allow LNG exports by sea from the Yamal Peninsula.
The
final investment decision on Novatek's
Arctic LNG 2 project was made in March 2019.
In September 2021, Yamal SPG Resurs of Novatek bought Arkticheskoye and Neytinskoye fields for 10,88 and 2,28 billion dollars respectively for further geological study of subsurface resources, exploitation and production. A very special term of the auction sale was the participation of Novatek structures only.
Novatek has been ranked as being among the 13th-best of 92 oil, gas, and mining companies on indigenous rights in the Arctic.
In 2021, Novatek was ranked no. 19 in the Arctic Environmental Responsibility Index (AERI) that covers 120 oil, gas, and mining companies involved in resource extraction north of the Arctic Circle.
Ownership
Novatek is a public company with shares traded on the
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
stock exchanges. The major shareholders of Novatek are
Leonid Michelson, the CEO, with around 28% of the shares,
Volga Group
Volga Group is a privately held investment vehicle that manages assets on behalf of the businessman Gennady Timchenko.
History
Volga Group was established as Volga Resources in 2007, and renamed as Volga Group in June 2013. The group consolid ...
with 23% of shares, Total S.A. with 16%, and
Gazprom
PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...
with 9.4%.
[
][
]
Controversies
On July 16 2014, Novatek was placed on the Sectoral Sanctions Identification list by the
U.S. Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...
following Russia’s continued attempts to destabilize eastern
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
.
On January 29 2018, CEO Leonid Mikhelson was named in a
Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act
The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is a United States federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia. The bill was passed by the Senate on July 27, 2017, 98–2, after it passed the House 419 ...
report delivered to Congress.
In September 2021, CFO Mark Gyetvay was arrested in the United States. He allegedly hid $93M worth of assets in offshore accounts. If convicted, he could face a decades-long prison sentence. He has since been released on a $80M bond.
In April 2022, former Deputy Chairman on the Board of Directors,
Sergey Protosenya, reportedly stunned his wife and daughter with an axe and then stabbed them to death before hanging himself, at a luxury villa in
Lloret de Mar, Spain. He had a fortune of over $400 million.
Two other similar reports of gas company executives killing their wives and children emerged around the same time in Moscow. Investigators have not found evidence of third parties in spite of the case not looking like a typical murder-suicide.
Novatek issued a statement casting doubt on a murder-suicide theory.
See also
*
Subsidiaries and affiliates of Total S. A.
References
External links
*
*
Novatek - information and analytics
{{Privatization in Russia
Companies based in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
Companies listed on the Moscow Exchange
Gazprom
PAO Novatek
Natural gas companies of Russia
Russian brands