The sub-sanctioned gas terminal of the Russian Federation will lose the export route to Asia due to the weather
Russia’s sanctioned Arctic LNG-2 project has less than a month to ship cargoes of liquefied natural gas via the Northern Sea Route to Asia before the route is closed to ice-free tankers until next summer.
This is reported by the Bloomberg agency.
Early ice formation in the eastern part of the Arctic will close navigation through this section of the route for non-ice-class vessels from October 15, according to a statement from Rosatom, the state corporation that manages the channel.
An early end to the eastern shipping season will further limit export opportunities for Arctic LNG-2, which has already struggled to ship cargo and find buyers due to increased U.S. sanctions.
The sanctions deprived the project of access to more stable ice-class tankers, forcing it to use only lighter vessels, delaying the start of loadings until August.
The Arctic LNG-2 project, designed for an annual capacity of 19.8 million tons, is a key element in Russia’s plans to expand its presence in the global liquefied natural gas market. The White House and its allies are trying to curb that ambition and cut the Kremlin’s energy revenues by imposing restrictions on this and future liquefied natural gas projects in Russia.
Since the start of exports, the plant has sent six shipments, in particular, one shipment has already been delivered to the Far East of Russia for storage, and the other is still on its way. None of the cargoes have yet found a buyer.
