Russian LNG Cargo Near Spain to Test Impact of Latest Sanctions

(Bloomberg) -- A liquefied natural gas tanker carrying a shipment from a Russian plant sanctioned by the US on Friday is poised to be the first to test buyers’ willingness to circumvent the latest set of punitive measures.

The Cool Rover tanker was loaded at Gazprom PJSC’s Portovaya LNG export plant late last month and is currently idling near the coast of Spain and Portugal, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The vessel only delivered shipments to Europe last year, the data shows.

The Portovaya plant in northwestern Russia was among those listed late last week in Washington’s most aggressive sanctions on Russian hydrocarbons to date — and is the first active LNG export facility to be targeted. The US is hoping to deter LNG buyers from accepting imports and paying Russia for the fuel, ultimately curbing Moscow’s ability to continue to fund its war in Ukraine.

Sanctions rarely work swiftly, but measures imposed against Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 facility in 2023 have succeeded in essentially barring the sale of its gas, as buyers are wary of getting tangled in Washington’s financial fight.

Portovaya and the Novatek PJSC-led Vysotsk LNG facility, also on the Baltic Sea and sanctioned by the US last week, exported roughly 2.3 million tons last year, according to ship data. That amounts to roughly 0.6% of total global exports in 2024.

More News:

• The latest sanctions over the two Russian terminals will have fewer impacts on Asia than the EU, as the two terminals mainly supply Europe, according to a note by China Futures Co
  • Larger facilities supplying Asia have not been affected, and “impacts to global market are controllable,” according to the firm
• Gail is offering to sell an LNG cargo from Sabine Pass in Louisiana in exchange for a shipment to be delivered to India
• Producer Angola LNG is offering two cargoes on a DES basis for late-Jan. to Feb. delivery to various locations as far east as Southeast Asia
• PTT purchased an LNG cargo on a DES basis for Feb. 12-13 delivery to Thailand
• Brunei offers to sell an LNG cargo on a DES basis for March 8-9 delivery to ports in North Asia
• Indian Oil Corp. is seeking to purchase two LNG cargoes on a DES basis for Feb. 25 delivery to Dahej and Feb. 5-14 delivery to Dhamra

Drivers: 

• LNG send-out in Europe was at ~3.2 TWh/day on Jan. 11, according to latest available data; +16% w/w: GIE data
• European gas storage levels were ~66% full on Jan. 11, compared with the five-year seasonal average of 72%
• The 30-day moving average of Chinese LNG imports was 226k tons on Jan. 9, down 1.3% from a week earlier, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg
• 30-day moving average of LNG deliveries to Japan have remained below the 5-year average since mid-October, according to ship tracking data
• Estimated flows to all US export terminals were ~14.5 bcf/day on Jan. 12, down 1.1% w/w: BNEF

Buy tender:

Sell tender:

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.