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Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) production dropped 3.3 percent in January-November this year compared to the same period in 2024, according to the Russian statistics agency Rosstat.
Rosstat’s data shows that the country’s LNG terminals produced 29.9 million mt in the eleven-month period.
In October, LNG production reached 3.1 million mt, a rise of 0.8 percent compared to the same month last year, according to the data.
October LNG production dropped compared to 3.2 million mt in October.
Several Russian media outlets reported on Wednesday that Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that the country’s goal of reaching 100 million tonnes per year of LNG by 2030 has been postponed by “several years” due to sanctions.
In 2025, Russian LNG plants are expected to produce 33 million tonnes of LNG, down from 34.7 million mt in 2024.
The main reason for the change in dynamics is more extensive planned maintenance at plants during the summer period, according to the reports.
Russia currently produces LNG via Novatek and Gazprom-operated LNG terminals.
Gazprom operates the Sakhalin-2 LNG terminal with a capacity of 10.8 mtpa and the mid-scale Portovaya LNG complex in the Leningrad region with a capacity of about 1.5 mtpa.
Besides these facilities, Novatek operates the 17.4 mtpa Yamal LNG plant in Sabetta.
Novatek also operates the mid-scale LNG plant in Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Vysotsk with a capacity of more than 660,000 tons of LNG per year.
Earlier this year, the US sanctioned Gazprom SPG Portovaya, the Russia-based operator of the Portovaya LNG terminal, and Cryogas Vyostsk, the Russia-based operator of the Cryogas Vysotsk LNG terminal.
Arctic LNG 2 shipments
Novatek also operates the Arctic LNG-2 export plant, which was the first to be hit by US and EU sanctions.
In August 2024, Novatek delivered the second gravity-based structure platform from its yard near Murmansk to the site of the Arctic LNG 2 project located on the Gydan peninsula.
The company completed the second GBS despite sanctions by the US and the EU related to the Arctic LNG 2 project and LNG carriers.
The first GBS left the Belokamenka yard in July 2024, and Novatek completed the installation on the underbase foundation on the seabed at the Utrenniy terminal in August.
The first and second GBS each have a capacity of about 6.6 mtpa.
According to several reports, Novatek started producing LNG at the second unit earlier this year.
Several reports indicate that sanctioned vessels continue to load LNG at the Arctic LNG 2 plant, with the first delivery arriving on board Arctic Mulan at PipeChina’s 6 mtpa regasification terminal in Guangxi on August 28.
In October, the UK government imposed sanctions on China’s Beihai LNG terminal, as it has been importing LNG from the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia.
It is worth mentioning here that Russian Zvezda yard just delivered what it says is the first Russian-built ice-class LNG carrier.
The 172,600-cbm Aleksey Kosygin is the first ice-class Arc7 carrier in a series of vessels that will serve the Novatek-operated Arctic LNG 2 project.