EL7.AI
GeopoliticsMedium•24 October 2026•
3 min read

Polar LNG appoints interim CEO and targets gas deliveries by end-2030

Key Facts

1Polar LNG is targeting the start of gas deliveries by the end of 2030, subject to permits, financing, engineering work and development requirements.
2The first phase needs investments of between $8 billion and $9 billion to produce 7 million tonnes annually, according to an estimate cited by Reuters.
3Tim Tackington has more than 30 years of investment banking experience, including more than 17 years at Goldman Sachs; his role at Goldman Sachs Bank in Russia ended in August 2022.
4Polar LNG is targeting a final investment decision in mid-2027 and production in 2029 or 2030, according to earlier remarks by Joel Riedel cited by Reuters.

Polar LNG said it had appointed Tim Tackington interim chief executive of Polar Train LNG and that Joel Riedel was fired "for cause." The company said it was investigating allegations that could lead to litigation, without describing the change as officials resigning over Russian ties. The announcement comes as it develops an onshore liquefied natural gas project at Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Slope. The details announced by the company focus on the leadership change and an application for a U.S. license to buy an unfinished floating structure from Russia’s privately owned Novatek. The statement did not include evidence that Novatek financed or controlled the project.

Polar LNG said Tackington, who heads Polar Eagle LNG, had been appointed interim chief executive of Polar Train LNG. In its statement, it said he had more than 30 years of investment banking experience, including more than 17 years at Goldman Sachs. It added that he served as chief executive of Goldman Sachs Bank in Russia until August 2022. That gives him a professional background connected to Russia, but the statement does not link that experience to Novatek’s ownership or control of the project. The company said its focus remained on developing the proposed gas facility.

Regarding Novatek, the company said it had submitted an application to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for a license authorizing the purchase of an unfinished floating structure from the privately owned Russian company. An earlier Reuters report said Polar LNG was seeking the office’s approval to buy equipment from Russia’s sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project. The license application puts the proposed transaction into a U.S. review process, but does not by itself establish that ownership or control of the project passed to Novatek. Nor does it establish that the office granted approval. Reuters said the company was seeking approval to buy the equipment, which is different from alleging that the Russian company financed or ran the Alaska project.

According to an estimate cited by Reuters for the first phase, the project needs investments of between $8 billion and $9 billion to produce 7 million tonnes of LNG annually. Joel Riedel had told the report that the company was targeting a final investment decision in mid-2027 and production in 2029 or 2030. The company now says it aims to begin gas deliveries by the end of 2030. It linked that target to obtaining permits and financing, completing engineering work and meeting other development requirements. Those targets remain conditional on meeting those requirements, according to its statement.

Polar LNG describes itself as developing an onshore LNG project at Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Slope. The project should be distinguished from the larger Alaska LNG project, for which Reuters reported a separate timeline. That project is targeting a final investment decision on the pipeline in 2026, followed by one on the export facility in 2027, with first exports targeted for 2031. Those dates are not a timeline for Polar Train LNG. Polar LNG’s announced target for gas deliveries is the end of 2030, subject to permits, financing, engineering and development requirements.