Russian LNG exports fell 4.4% y/y in January-June, data shows

Russian LNG exports fell 4.4% y/y in January-June, data shows

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia's exports of liquefied natural gas in the first half of the year declined by 4.4% from a year earlier to 15.2 million metric tons, LSEG preliminary data showed on Wednesday, amid international sanctions over Ukraine.

In particular, the United States has imposed sanctions on companies and vessels linked to Russia's new Arctic LNG 2 plant because of the conflict in Ukraine, effectively freezing the project because of the difficulty for Moscow in finding buyers.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants the European Union to buy more U.S. LNG and that he will make more of it available. In June alone, Russia's LNG exports were also down by the same 4.4%, year on year, to 2.15 million tons, while the decline from May was more pronounced, at 15%, from 2.53 million tons according to LSEG data. Russian LNG exports to Europe in January-June declined by 13% year on year to 7.9 million tons, while supplies in June in this direction fell by 14.4% to 1.37 million tons, after sanctions on trans-shipment took effect in March.

Russia's sea-borne LNG supplies to Europe have surpassed pipeline exports volumes after Moscow and Kyiv had failed to extend their gas transit deal, which expired after January 1 2025. Novatek's Yamal LNG plant cut total exports in June by 1.2% year on year to 1.6 million tons. In the first half of the year, supplies from the plant were stable, at 9.8 million tons. Sakhalin-2, controlled by Gazprom, cut exports by a fifth to 400,000 tons in June from 500,000 tons in the same month a year ago.

The operator of the project, Sakhalinskaya Energiya, did not reply to a request for comment. Exports from the project edged up to 5 million tons year-to-date from 4.9 million in January-June 2024.

(Reporting by Oksana Kobzeva; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by David Evans)