Data shows that Russia exported more LNG to Europe in the first quarter.

The first quarter of 2026 saw Russia export more liquefied gas than it had a year earlier. Shipments to Europe increased despite Moscow's efforts to "redirect" supply away from the region.

LSEG preliminary data on Wednesday showed that LNG exports grew by 8.9% in the past year to 8,6 million metric tonnes.

U.S. sanctions on Moscow for the Ukraine conflict has restricted Russian LNG exports. This is especially true at the Arctic LNG 2, where operations are being hindered due to a lack of buyers.

The Arctic LNG 2 plant supplied around 800,000 tons of LNG during the first quarter of this year. This helped to increase overall Russian LNG deliveries.

Total Russian LNG exports rose by 13.9% in March compared to the same month last year, reaching?3,04 million tons.

The data also revealed that Russian LNG exports to Europe in the quarter ending March 31 rose 17% on an annual basis, reaching 4.8 million tonnes. In March, the number of tons rose from 1.33 to 1.7.

The increase in exports to Europe occurred even though Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that his country was able to?divert its gas away from the area, while the European Union banned imports of Russian gas pipelines by the end of 2027 and imposed new short-term Russian gas contracts as early as late April this year.

EU countries gave final approval in?January to the ban on Russian gas imports until late-2027.

Novatek's Yamal LNG plant exported 4.8 million tonnes in January-March, a 2% decrease on the previous year. According to preliminary data, all tankers from the Yamal?LNG plant have been dispatched to Europe this year.

Sakhalin-2 in Asia, which is controlled by Gazprom, has exported 2.8 millions tons of goods during the first quarter, an increase from the 2.7 million tonnes that were exported at the same time last year. Diti Pujara, Diti Reporting and Diti Editing)

(source: Reuters)