EU re-exports over 20 percent of LNG imported to Russia

(MENAFN) The European Union is re-exporting over 20 percent of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) it imports from Russia to various global destinations, according to a report from a US news agency.

Transshipment of Russian LNG has been prohibited in the UK and the Netherlands. However, data reveals that authorized supplies of Russian LNG are “routinely transferred” between tankers in Belgium, France, and Spain before being shipped to buyers in other countries, as reported by the outlet.

The news source highlights that ports in these three EU countries continue to handle substantial volumes of Russian gas originating from the Arctic Yamal LNG plant. The major stakeholders in this facility include Novatek, Russia's second-largest gas producer, the China National Petroleum Corporation, and the French energy giant TotalEnergies.

The article specifies that the ports of Zeebrugge in Belgium and Montoir-de-Bretagne in France have received the most significant shipments of Russian LNG among all EU ports this year.

“Transshipment usually takes place between Russian ‘ice class’ tankers that are used to run between the Yamal peninsula and north-western Europe and regular LNG tankers that then sail on to other ports, freeing up the ice-class vessels to return north,” the outlet stated.

Between January and September, the European Union imported 17.8 billion cubic meters of Russian LNG, as reported by the outlet.

Approximately 21 percent of this quantity was redirected to tankers bound for other nations, such as China, Japan, and Bangladesh, according to data from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

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