Russian LNG exports increased by 2.8% in February

Russian LNG exports in February increased by 2.8% compared to the same period last year, to 2.79 million tons, according to Kpler data. So far, supplies to EU countries remain at a stable level, despite the ongoing discussion in Europe about limiting purchases of liquefied gas from Russia. Thus, the authorities of Spain, one of the largest European LNG importers, advocated terminating long-term contracts with Russian suppliers.

Russian LNG exports in February increased by 2.8% year-on-year, to 2.79 million tons, according to Kpler data. Deliveries to European countries and Turkey amounted to 1.59 million tons, to Asia – 1.1 million tons, cargo for another 0.08 million tons has not yet been nominated.

Deliveries from NOVATEK’s Yamal LNG increased by 1.3%, to 1.69 million tons, from Gazprom’s Sakhalin-2 – by 7.5%, to 0.9 million tons. Medium-scale LNG plants – NOVATEK’s Cryogas-Vysotsk and Gazprom’s Port LNG – collectively supplied 0.2 million tons of LNG to the world market, which is 3.3% less than a year earlier.

The Sakhalin-2 LNG plant, fully focused on the Asian market, maintains a high level of exports: 0.51 million tons were shipped to Japan in January, or 13.9% more than a year earlier. Shipments to South Korea increased by 33% year-on-year and amounted to 0.255 million tons, and to China decreased by 34% to 0.13 million tons.

In February, Yamal LNG doubled supplies to France, to 0.44 million tons; shipments to Belgium increased by 51%, to 0.66 million tons. At the same time, supplies to Spain decreased by 59% year-on-year, to 0.22 million tons.

Last year, EU countries increased purchases of LNG on the world market in order to replace the lost volumes of supplies via pipelines from the Russian Federation. In total, the Russian Federation shipped about 16.42 million tons of LNG to Europe, including Turkey, in 2023. Direct sanctions have not been imposed on Russian gas supplies either by pipe or in the form of LNG.

On March 4, Teresa Ribera, Minister for the Ecological Transition of Spain, one of Europe’s largest LNG consumers, said that the EU should toughen its position on Russian LNG supplies by agreeing on a common position on how member countries can reduce or ban imports of Russian LNG. “We need to count on a common approach from the EU, and we will insist on this,” she added.

According to the official, instructions are needed on how to remove European companies from long-term contracts with Russian suppliers, while ensuring that gas is not repackaged for delivery to a third country, Bloomberg quotes Ms. Ribera. We are talking about an initiative that limits preliminary applications for the capacity of LNG terminals for supplies from the Russian Federation. The initiative is expected to be considered in the European Parliament in April.

“Despite the European Union’s plans to limit the import of Russian LNG, we still do not see such a trend,” notes independent expert Alexander Sobko. In his opinion, a slight drop in exports to Europe from Yamal LNG in February relative to January (2.94 million tons) correlates with a decrease in the total number of shipments to Europe and is likely due to the short month. “Importers do not plan in advance to abandon Russian LNG and gradually do not replace it with other supplies, which suggests that at a minimum they are not interested in such a replacement, and at a maximum, they will try to preserve Russian imports to the last,” he believes.

Alexander Sobko notes that some decisions on possible restrictions on the import of Russian LNG may be made in April. However, during the summer months, Yamal LNG traditionally sends most of its gas to Asia via the Northern Sea Route.

Tatiana Dyatel