Russian Arctic LNG 2 faces halt in gas production due to export sanctions

Bloomberg reported the information, citing its informed sources.

The fields supplying the Arctic LNG 2 plant pumped an average of 0.4 million cubic meters of gas per day during the first ten days of November, marking a decline of more than 90% from the average production in October.

This represents the lowest average production level for the Russian project since at least September 2023. Even during the commissioning and start-up of the first line of Arctic LNG 2 in the fourth quarter of last year, the fields produced between 2 million and nearly 14 million cubic meters per day.

According to Bloomberg, Arctic LNG 2 is crucial for Russia's ambitions to increase liquefied natural gas exports and develop the Northern Sea Route, which is why it has become the target of several waves of Western sanctions over the past year.

The plant's design capacity is 19.8 million tons of liquified gas per year, but currently, only one production line is operational, capable of producing 6.6 million tons annually.

• In September, the U.S. State Department imposed sanctions on companies and vessels that illegally attempted to transport gas from the sanctioned Russian Arctic LNG 2 project.
• India announced that the country would not purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced by the sanctioned Russian Arctic LNG 2 project.