China Insurance Investment fund eyeing Yamal LNG stake

China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) on Monday said a new investment firm raised 40 billion yuan (US$6.1 billion) to fund energy projects abroad.  

The company, named China Insurance Investment, has been jointly set up by over 40 insurance companies and asset managers.

CIRC added in its statement that part of the funds raised by the company founders will go towards funding the Yamal LNG project in the Russian Arctic, but no details on the possible investment have been revealed.

Novatek, the operator of the US$27 billion Yamal LNG project in December agreed to sell a 9.9 percent equity stake to another Chinese fund, the Silk Road Fund and signed a 15-year loan deal worth around US$792 million.

The project, being built on the Yamal peninsula includes the construction of a liquefaction plant with annual capacity of 16.5 million tons per annum based on the feedstock resources of the South-Tambeyskoye field. The production from the LNG project is scheduled to start in 2017.

LNG World News Staff