China has received the fourth cargo of liquefied natural gas from the sanctioned Russian Arctic LNG 2 project, as Beijing and Russia appear bolder in defying U.S. and other Western sanctions on Russia’s energy exports.
The Buran, a sanctioned Russian tanker, arrived at the Beihai LNG Terminal in China on September 12, with about 166,000 cubic meters of LNG loaded from Arctic LNG 2 on August 22, Reuters reported on Monday, citing data from LSEG. The cargo was discharged on Sunday, according to the data.
This is the fourth cargo in just over two weeks that has discharged LNG from the Russian export project that has been under U.S., EU, and UK sanctions. Arctic LNG 2, operated by Russian LNG exporter Novatek, had struggled for more than a year to find buyers after the Western sanctions were imposed last year.
However, the export plant came to life this summer and has been shipping cargoes to China in recent weeks.
Arctic LNG 2 roared back to life in August, in a sign that Russia is done waiting and is now sending off loaded LNG cargoes, which could be testing the Trump Administration’s willingness to sanction Russia’s LNG customers in China.
Arctic LNG 2 is under sanctions by the United States, the EU, and the UK, which have also blacklisted many of the LNG vessels thought to be servicing the project’s output.
For over a year, the U.S. and EU sanctions on Russia’s Arctic LNG 2, which was billed as Russia’s flagship LNG project, had effectively frozen the start-up of the export facility in the Gydan Peninsula.
The wait ended at the end of August, when a cargo from the facility docked at a Chinese import terminal. The Arctic Mulan LNG tanker arrived at the Beihai LNG terminal, and China received the cargo, making it the first-ever actual exported cargo out of the Russian facility.
China has now imported its fourth such cargo, and a fifth is under way to its shores, according to vessel-tracking data.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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