Moscow is expanding its hydrocarbon exports by boosting LNG shipments to the Asian markets from Siberia’s Yamal Peninsula.
Telling the BBC that he is “disappointed but not done with Vladimir Putin,” President Donald Trump has threatened 100% tariffs against Russia, including secondary tariffs against countries that help dodge sanctions on the Kremlin’s energy exports., The U.S. Senate is considering a bill to give the president the ability to impose additional “sledgehammer” measures with up to 500 percent secondary sanctions. Under pressure, Moscow is expanding its hydrocarbon exports by boosting LNG shipments to the Asian markets from Siberia’s Yamal Peninsula. On June 26th, the Russian tanker Iris docked at Arctic LNG 2 terminal, a joint venture between Russia’s Novatek, Chinese CNPC and CNOOC, and Mitsui and JOGMEC, marking the first departure from the sanctioned facility since October 2024.
The Iris is part of Moscow’s shadow fleet, which exports Russian energy abroad, dodging Western sanctions through a convoluted web of false registries, deactivated transponders, covert offloading, waived insurance, shell games, and confusing ownership schemes.
Arctic LNG 2 raised outputs to record levels, averaging 14 million cubic meters/day in the last days of June, compared to 8.9 million cubic meters/day for most of the month. That’s enough in a single day to power approximately 13,461 American households for a year.
It appears that Russia plans to exploit the Northern Sea Route to dodge sanctions. Running through the Arctic Ocean and around the northern shores of Eurasia, it is only navigable from late June/July to October/November and provides Moscow with direct access to Asia. As ice in the Arctic Ocean melts, Russia is focused on tripling LNG exports by 2030. It is up to the U.S. and the EU to tighten sanctions to help force the issue of peace negotiations with Ukraine.Opportunity in Asia for Russian LNG
From August to October of 2024, eight shipments left Arctic 2 LNG and were moved to floating storage units as sales fell. According to traders, personnel affiliated with the facility have called on potential buyers in India and China, attempting to sell this fuel.
