Yamal LNG, a $27 billion project on a Russian peninsula jutting into the Kara Sea, has been beset by questions over how to pay for it since the lead partner, OAO Novatek , NVTK -3.40 % was hit by U.S. sanctions following Russia’s annexation of Crimea last year. With most western financing cut off, the partners have turned to Chinese state banks for $12 billion in loans but none have been approved yet. The project has become a test of whether complicated, expensive Russian energy developments are possible in an era of stringent American sanctions on the country’s oil-and-gas industry. This month, China’s $40 billion Silk Road Fund said it would finance part of the project, a development Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné called “a clear commitment by China” in an interview Wednesday. The price paid for Silk Road’s 9.9% stake in Yamal wasn’t disclosed. Silk Road, a state-owned infrastructure […]