Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 19, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleRussia exported 18.8 million tons of LNG in early 2025, with major shipments to Asia and Europe. The EU plans a Russian LNG import ban by 2027.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The European Commission will propose banning Russian LNG imports by January 1, 2027, a year earlier than planned, as part of a 19th package of sanctions against Moscow, EU sources said on Friday. Following are some facts about Russia's LNG exports by destination and volume.
TOTAL EXPORTS OF RUSSIAN LNG
Russia's liquefied natural gas exports in January-August 2025 reached 18.8 million metric tons, of which 9.5 million tons were shipped to Asia and 9.2 million tons were exported to Europe.
RUSSIA'S LNG EXPORTS TO EUROPE
Russia's share in EU imports of liquefied natural gas decreased to 14% in the second quarter of 2025 from 22% in the first quarter of 2021, according to Eurostat.
Novatek-led Yamal LNG is Russia's supplier of the frozen gas to Europe.
France is the largest importer of Russia's LNG in Europe, buying around 4 million tons in the first eight months of the year.
It is followed by Belgium (2.3 million tons), Spain (1.8 million tons), the Netherlands (around 1 million tons) and Italy (725,000 tons).
SOME LNG DEALS WITH COMPANIES
France's TotalEnergies, which has a 20% stake in Yamal LNG, gets around 4 million tons of LNG per year from the project at Montoir-de-Bretagne.
Gazprom's former unit in Germany, SEFE, has a contract for imports of 2.9 million tons a year from Yamal LNG at Zeebrugge.
China's CNPC buys up to 3 million tons of LNG per year from Novatek.
The Russian company also has a contract with Spain's Gas Natural Fenosa to supply 1 million tons of LNG from Yamal.
RUSSIA'S LNG EXPORTS TO ASIA
The Sakhalin-2 project, led by Gazprom, is Russia's Asia-oriented LNG supplier.
China is the top buyer of LNG from Russia with imports of 4.1 million tons in January-August, including 300,000 tons from the new Arctic LNG 2 plant.
It is followed by Japan (3.7 million tons), South Korea (1.4 million tons), Vietnam (613,000 tons) and Taiwan (200,000 tons).
(Reporting by Oksana Kobzeva; Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Frances Kerry)
LNG stands for liquefied natural gas, which is natural gas that has been cooled to a liquid state for ease of storage and transport.
LNG exports refer to the sale and transport of liquefied natural gas from one country to another, often through specialized shipping vessels.
LNG plays a crucial role in global energy markets by providing an alternative source of natural gas, especially for countries lacking domestic gas resources.
Novatek is a major Russian company involved in the production and export of liquefied natural gas, notably through projects like Yamal LNG.
The main destinations for Russian LNG include countries in Europe and Asia, with significant imports from nations like China, France, and Japan.
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