Gazprom Delivers First LNG Cargo to China Post Sanctions

Russian energy giant Gazprom has delivered a liquefied natural gas cargo from Portovaya LNG plant to China, in the first such shipment since the United States introduced sanctions against the project in January, LSEG data showed on Monday.

Gas carrier Valera, formerly known as Velikiy Novgorod, brought the cargo from the Baltic Sea's plant to the Beihai LNG terminal, LSEG ship-tracking data showed.

Russia's largest LNG producer Novatek uses the same loading outlet in China for cargoes from Arctic LNG 2 plant.

The tanker was loaded at Portovaya on October 28 and has arrived at the southern Chinese port of Tieshan, the data showed.

Martin Senior, head of pricing at Argus agency, said exports from Portovaya to China during winter could be limited to around one cargo a month due to the terminal’s limited size and lack of carriers linked to the terminal.

"This is lower than expected exports from Arctic LNG 2, which could export around three cargoes a month despite higher ice buildup compared to Portovaya, because of a greater number of carriers as well as a higher terminal capacity," he said.

The small-scale Portovaya LNG plant, which has a production capacity of 1.5 million tons of LNG per year, started operations in September 2022.

Exports were suspended in February this year following the introduction of the U.S. sanctions over Ukraine to directly disrupt Russia's ability to produce and export LNG and reduce Russia's revenue from LNG exports.

In the early stages of its operations, most cargoes from Portovaya had been delivered to Turkey and Greece. Supply markets subsequently widened to China, Spain and Italy.

Before the sanctions, the plant used to ship two cargoes a month on average during winter. Since March 2025 it has sent only one cargo per month to the Russian western exclave of Kaliningrad.

(Reuters)