Sanctioned Russian LNG Heads East: Another Cargo Reaches China
Another tanker carrying sanctioned Russian liquefied natural gas from the Arctic LNG 2 project arrived at a Chinese port just days after the Russian and Chinese presidents met in Beijing, confirming the continuation of energy cooperation despite Western sanctions.
The Gaze reports on it, referring to Reuters.
One more tanker transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the sanctioned Russian Arctic LNG 2 project has arrived at a Chinese port. The Voskhod, flying the Russian flag, is anchored near the LNG terminal in the port of Teshan in the southwestern province of Guangxi.
The tanker was loaded on July 19 at the Arctic LNG 2 plant in Gydan in northern Siberia with 150,000 cubic meters of LNG.
The Gaze previously informed that at the end of August, Russia for the first time delivered LNG from the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 plant directly to the Chinese terminal Beihai LNG, signaling its intent to expand fuel exports to Asia and test the US response to energy sanctions.
The first such shipment, carried by the Arctic Mulan tanker, reflected Moscow's strategy to seek new markets after losing traditional European buyers.
Arctic LNG 2, 60% of which is owned by the Russian company Novatek, began production in December 2023 but is behind schedule due to Western sanctions and a shortage of ice-class gas carriers.
The delivery of the second tanker took place a few days after Russian President Vladimir Putin's trip to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit and a military parade marking the end of World War II.
This year, at least six known shipments have been loaded from Arctic LNG 2, some of which are heading east via the Northern Sea Route.
Two tankers are currently moored on the Kamchatka Peninsula, while a third is in the South China Sea between Taiwan and Hainan Island.
As The Gaze wrote earlier, Russian crude shipments have shifted sharply toward China, with deliveries hitting their highest level in five months, as U.S. tariffs choke flows to India.