Russia's LNG exports fell by 7.3% in the first two months of this year from the same period in 2024 to 5.1 mill tonnes, according to LSEG data.
This drop comes amid sanctions and Sakhalin-2 project supply cuts.
Russia has been hit by US restrictions over the conflict in Ukraine. For example, its new Arctic LNG 2 plant has been effectively shut down, as it was unable to find buyers owing to Western sanctions.
In February alone, Russia's LNG exports fell by 8% to 2.36 mill tonnes from 2.57 mill in the same month a year ago, according to LSEG’s data.
Russia's LNG exports to Europe in January/February fell 13% year-on-year to 2.7 mill tonnes, while supplies in February declined by 7% to 1.3 mill tonnes.
However, NOVATEK's Yamal LNG plant’s total February exports rose 7% year-on-year to 1.5 mill tonnes.
Sakhalin-2, operated by Gazprom, exported 760,000 tonnes in February, down 21% from the same month a year earlier.
Gazprom's small-scale Baltic Portovaya LNG was sanctioned by the US in January, when its last cargo was delivered. It loaded some LNG cargoes last month, but they are still to be delivered.
Elsewhere, it has been reported that Russia shipped a record 21.86 mill tonnes of LNG along the Northern Sea Route (NSR) - an increase of 8.6% or 1.73 mill tonnes on the previous year.
China’s imports falling
Meanwhile, China’s LNG imports fell to a five year low last month on weak demand and Europe luring cargoes by offering higher prices.
Imports amounted to 4.5 mill tonnes, resulting in China lagging behind Japan as the largest importer for the second month in a row, according to data from Kpler.
The Chinese winter has been relatively warm and there were ample storage supplies, while industrial demand was described as fairly low.
Wei Xiong, Rystad Energy’s head of China gas research told Bloomberg that the inventories were likely to continue to weigh on imports through the end of the heating season.
Some Chinese energy companies have been reselling LNG spot cargoes during the past few months to take advantage of the higher prices on offer.
For example, the Binhai LNG plant in Jiangsu Province, re-exported a cargo to South Korea’s Boryeong last month, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg, following cargo exports in December and January.
This re-selling activity is expected to continue this year, following the 15% tariff imposed by China on US LNG in retaliation to the US tariffs implemented by the Trump administration, Xiong said.
However, last month, some 82% of US LNG exports, equivalent to 6.82 mill tonnes, were shipped to Europe, according to a Reuters report.
This follows the 7.25 mill tonnes of LNG shipped during the previous month, accounting for 86% of US exports.
Firm prices and persistent cold temperatures were said to be the cause of the increased demand.
The first two months of 2025 signals something of a reversal in European import patterns, as in 2024, US deliveries to the continent fell by 18%.
