New Urgewald research shows the large amounts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) that EU member states such as Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Spain keep receiving from Russia, two years after its war of aggression against Ukraine began.
15 LNG icebreaker tankers regularly transport Russian liquefied gas to LNG import terminals in the four EU countries mentioned above. As the analysis of the commodity trade data firm kpler[1] shows, Russia's largest LNG export port Sabetta, operated by the Russian company Novatek on the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia, almost fully depends on exports to Europe.
Urgewald’s research shows that the European ports of Zeebrugge (Belgium), Montoir, Dunkerque (both France), Bilbao, Mugardos (both Spain) and Rotterdam (Netherlands) are the main ports of call for LNG shipments from Yamal. Montoir and Zeebrugge are also important hubs for ship-to-ship transfers and re-export to Turkey, China and Taiwan, respectively.[2]
Since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24th, 2022, a total of 34 million tons of LNG from Yamal have been delivered to EU ports or transshipped in EU waters. This corresponds to more than half of German gas consumption in 2023.[3] At least 6.6 million tons, or around 20 percent of total deliveries, were demonstrably shipped via Europe to non-European countries.
Russia's flagship LNG project Yamal depends on access to EU ports. 15 icebreaker LNG tankers of the so-called Arc7 class were built especially for LNG exports from Yamal. Almost 90 percent of Yamal exports are carried out by these vessels. No other ships can be used during the winter months. Unloading or reloading in EU waters is therefore paramount for Russia, as longer transport routes would curb Yamal’s export potential. While the journey from Yamal to Zeebrugge takes six to seven days, the travel time to the nearest ports in Turkey is at least two weeks.
Oleh Savitskyi from the Ukrainian environmental organization Razom We Stand[4] comments: "There is no doubt that Russia’s LNG business is of vital importance to Putin's regime. It represents a key source of revenue for his brutal war against Ukraine and also serves as leverage for political blackmail against the West. But the EU does not need Russian LNG fossil gas for its energy security. We call on the European Council to reject Russia’s dirty LNG deliveries and pass targeted sanctions that will free the continent of Russia’s energy influence and cut the money flows to Putin’s war chest."
Sebastian Rötters, energy campaigner and kpler data analyst at Urgewald, adds: "Even two years into Russia’s war of aggression, the EU is still the central hub for Russia's LNG business. Although Russia is much more dependent on the EU in this regard than the other way around, Member States are not even willing to prohibit ship-to-ship LNG transfers in their waters or re-exports from the EU to Asia. The European Council must work towards a complete ban of Russian LNG and sanction ships that operate at Russian LNG ports. This would bring shipments from Yamal to a standstill because Novatek would not have viable alternatives. US sanctions prevent the production of new Arc7 tankers. The EU must finally use this most effective sanctions lever."
The possible extension of EU sanctions to LNG imports was also discussed at the EU energy ministers' meeting on Monday.[5] Last Friday, more than 60 Members of the European Parliament sent a letter to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calling for a complete ban on gas imports from Russia. [6]
A study by IEEFA, an institute specializing in the energy sector, shows just how important the LNG trade with Europe is as a source of income for Russia: In 2023, EU countries paid EUR 8.1 billion for Russian LNG supplies. [7]
Further background information and data analyses are available on request.
[2] There are two options here: Direct transfer from one ship to another ("ship-to-ship transfer") or interim storage in an LNG tank in Zeebrugge with subsequent re-export.
