First time, Russian LNG is heading to India under US sanctions

LSEG shipping data on Wednesday showed that a cargo of liquefied gas from Russia’s?Portovaya?plant on the Baltic Sea, which is subject to U.S. sanction,?is 'on its way' to India.

It would be the very first delivery of this kind to India after U.S. president Donald Trump said last year that Prime Minister NarendraModi had promised him India would no longer buy Russian energy.

India has not publicly confirmed such a?pledge, and said that its purchasing decisions are based on price, supply security, and consumer interest. India is one of the largest energy importers in the world. Its exposure to disruptions and price increases caused by the Middle Eastern conflict and its resulting closure of Strait of Hormuz has increased.

In September 2022, the small-scale Portovaya facility, with a capacity of?1.5 millions tons of LNG annually, began operations.

Additional sanctions imposed by the Ukraine War in January 2025 have disrupted the ability of Russia to export LNG. They also reduced its income from the trade.

ANOTHER MARKET IN ADDITION TO CHINA?

As of now, Russia has delivered LNG to China's Beihai port from Portovaya as well as its Arctic LNG 2 facility.

LSEG data revealed that earlier on Wednesday, a second LNG cargo post-sanctions was delivered to China by the Russian energy giant Gazprom from its Portovaya facility.

India buying Russian LNG would be a way to diversify the market for Russian LNG before the European Union bans it from 2027.

According to LSEG, Kunpeng is a 138.200 cubic metre LNG tanker that will be heading to the Dahej LNG terminal in?western India.

The cargo would, if it is delivered, open a second market in the United States for Russian LNG that has been sanctioned by the U.S., as all previous deliveries of Russian LNG from sanctioned Russian Terminals have gone to China's Beihai, said Martin Senior, head LNG pricing at Argus, an industry publication.

Portovaya used to ship two cargoes per month in winter, on average. In March 2025 it began sending one cargo a month to Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave in the west of Russia, instead of the two shipments per month to China.

(source: Reuters)