Commodities
Alaska LNG developer Polar Train faces claims that sanctioned Russian firm Novatek funded and steered it, FT reports
The company's former chief executive says Novatek directed the project before US Treasury approvals were in place; Polar LNG rejects the account and says it is seeking an OFAC licence.
HedgeWeekly News Desk ·
Polar Train LNG, a start-up planning to export liquefied natural gas from Alaska's North Slope, is under scrutiny after its former chief executive alleged that Novatek, a Russian gas producer under US sanctions, offered the venture funding and directed its operations before the US Treasury had granted approvals, the Financial Times reported on Saturday. Bloomberg and Investing.com relayed the report.
Joel Riddle, who led the company until he resigned in September, made the claims in an interview with the FT, and several other executives left after him, according to the FT and an interview Riddle gave The New York Times. Polar Train's parent, Polar Eagle LNG, has named its president, Tim Talkington, a former chief executive of Goldman Sachs Bank Russia, as acting CEO of the developer.
Polar LNG called Riddle a disgruntled former employee who had been fired and said the project is being developed in full compliance with US law. It said it has applied to the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control for a licence to buy an unfinished gravity-based structure from Novatek. Novatek said it signed a memorandum of understanding with Polar Train in April and that carrying out the project at scale would need approval from both US and Russian authorities. A Treasury official told the FT the department does not comment on alleged violations but treats potential breaches extremely seriously.
Why it matters: the dispute puts sanctions compliance at the centre of a US export project that aims to start gas deliveries by the end of 2030. The next marker is OFAC's decision on the equipment licence, which will show how far Washington is willing to let Russian-linked hardware and capital into the US LNG build-out. For investors and lenders weighing US LNG developers, the case is a reminder that counterparty and ownership checks matter as much as offtake contracts.