Sanctioned Russian gas plant sends cargo to Asia for first time

A sanctioned Russian liquefied natural gas export facility is sending a shipment to Asia for the first time, as Moscow continues a search for customers willing to take the fuel and circumvent US restrictions.

Everest Energy picked up a shipment from the Arctic LNG 2 plant in northeastern Russia over the weekend, and is currently on its way to Asia via the northern sea route, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The vessel was built in 2003, was also sanctioned by the US last month due to its connection to a suspected dark fleet, and had its shipping certificate permanently revoked by Palau last week. 

It is highly unusual and possibly dangerous for a traditional LNG vessel without ice-breaking capabilities to traverse the arctic trade route, which freezes over completely during the northern hemisphere winter. That illustrates the lengths Russia will go to expand gas deliveries in the face of US restrictions on the plant and accompanying vessels in a bid to try to halt the facility.

The final destination for Everest Energy isn’t clear. The vessel may deliver the gas to the Koryak fuel storage unit in Kamchatka or to an import terminal in Asia.

The Arctic LNG 2 plant began production in December, but US sanctions linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine delayed exports for months. The facility started shipments in August via vessels with opaque ownership that were hiding their location, typical characteristics of a dark fleet that are used to circumvent western restrictions.