Russia and China Boost Shadow LNG Trade

Russia and China aren’t even attempting to hide anymore the rise of sanctioned LNG trade as they continue to defy U.S. and other Western sanctions on Russian energy exports and vessels of the shadow fleet. 

The China-linked Kunpeng LNG carrier has docked at Portovaya, a small export plant on the Baltic Sea run by Russia’s gas giant Gazprom, marking the first time a Chinese tanker has been sent to ship LNG from the export facility sanctioned by the United States, vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg showed on Friday. 

Ownership and management of the Kunpeng LNG tanker was transferred earlier this year to little-known companies located in China and the Marshall Islands, according to Bloomberg’s data. 

Earlier this month, China received the first shipment from Portovaya on a U.S.-blacklisted vessel, as Russia and China continue to flaunt Western sanctions on their LNG trade. 

The LNG tanker Valera, sanctioned by the United States, docked at the Chinese LNG import terminal of Beihai early last week, according to shipping data compiled by Bloomberg.

In October, Valera loaded LNG from the Portovaya, Gazprom’s only LNG export facility. Portovaya and its Russia-based operator, Gazprom SPG Portovaya Limited Liability Company, were sanctioned by the United States in January 2025 in one of the last actions of the Biden Administration in a barrage of sanctions to “degrade Russia’s energy sector.” 

Russia has been stepping up efforts to sell its sanctioned LNG supply in China in recent months.  

Clear evidence of these efforts is the rising exports from Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project to China in defiance of U.S., UK, and EU sanctions on the project and tankers serving its exports.

China is estimated to have received more than a dozen LNG cargoes from Arctic LNG 2 this year.    

The increased shipments from Portovaya come as thick ice hinders LNG exports from the Arctic project. 

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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