The tanker for Gazprom goes into the shadows: they want to return the delivery to the sanctioned LNG plant

The Baltic LNG complex "Portovaya" came under US sanctions in January, as did the gas carriers serving it. Loaded vessels are changed names and operators to resume delivery from the factory.

US sanctions against the Portovaya LNG complex and two gas carriers serving it, Veliky Novgorod and Pskov, come into force at the end of February. However, cargo delivery stopped back in January, when in the middle of the month the LNG tanker Cool Rover of the Greek shipowner delivered liquefied gas to Spain.

Veliky Novgorod and Pskov were also loaded on Portovaya. The first is in mid—January, the second is in February. Kommersant wrote with reference to Kpler data that Pskov should go to China and deliver cargo to Tianjin, China, on March 22.

However, both gas carriers continue to be anchored at the Baltic LNG complex, according to AIS vessels.

Obviously, Gazprom and Sovcomflot are making efforts to ensure that the work of Portovaya and cargo delivery resume, but this cannot be done quickly. According to Equasis, the tanker "Pskov" has changed its name since February 1. Now it is called Pearl ("Pearl"). Also, judging by the database, the vessel has been changing operators since mid-February, since both gas carriers were sanctioned due to their connection with Sovcomflot.

The Baltic medium-tonnage LNG complex "Portovaya" with a capacity of 1.5 million tons was launched in September 2022 and at the beginning the cargoes were delivered to Greece and Turkey. Last year, a significant part of the parties went to China and there was a direction to Spain. The tanker Cool Rover delivered cargo there, which remained in the Spanish port after the January delivery.

Gazprom stated that cargo is sold on the spot market.

Unlike the "Port", another Russian Baltic complex, which was under new US sanctions, Cryogaz Vysotsk, continues to work. On February 20, the gas carrier Coral Fungia delivered cargo to the Belgian Zeebrugge, and the tanker Coral Nordic plans to do so on February 22. The vessels belong to the Dutch Anthony Verder and are not under sanctions.

The total design capacity of the two sanctioned LNG complexes is 2.2 million tons (3 billion cubic meters). This is about 6-7% of Russian LNG exports.

In 2024, the export of liquefied gas from Russia has reached a record, RBC reported with reference to Kpler data. Deliveries increased to 33.6 million tons. The main export projects are Yamal LNG and Sakhalin—2. Portovaya and Cryogaz Vysotsk accounted for 2.3 million tons in 2024.

Back in November 2023, the United States imposed sanctions against the second Arctic LNG—2 project and promised to kill all new projects in Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that sanctions create problems, but Russia will bypass them. The government of the country plans that by 2030 LNG exports will almost triple to 100 million tons.