June 05, 2026 [Yahoo Finance]- TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) could be getting a rare exit route from Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project after President Vladimir Putin approved the French energy major’s sale of its 10% stake in the US-sanctioned export facility. The stake is set to be transferred to NordLine LLC, which Interfax described as a newly created subsidiary of Novatek, the company that already owns 60% of Arctic LNG 2. No deal terms were disclosed, leaving investors with approval, but not the economics.

The bigger story is that TotalEnergies had already moved on financially. The company previously wrote down the value of its Arctic LNG 2 interest after Russia’s war in Ukraine and has said it has taken no revenue from the project. Arctic LNG 2, valued at more than $21 billion, was hit by US sanctions in late 2023 as Washington looked to limit Russia’s ability to expand exports of liquefied natural gas. The facility started shipping LNG the following year through shadow fleet vessels, but output has only ramped slowly and remains well below planned capacity, with cargoes so far reaching only one port in Southern China.

For investors, this could be less about TotalEnergies finding growth and more about cleaning up exposure to a stranded Russian asset. The approval is unusual because Kremlin signoffs for major foreign asset sales have become relatively rare in recent years. It could also give Moscow tighter control over its largest LNG export project by capacity as Russia pushes more energy sales toward Asia, while the European Union prepares to ban all Russian gas purchases from 2027. TotalEnergies declined to comment and still holds stakes in other Russian assets, including Yamal LNG and Novatek.