FT: EU ports ‘help’ sell more than 20% of Russian LNG
29.11.2023 - 14:25
The ports of Zeebrugge in Belgium and Montoire de Bretagne in France received the most Russian LNG in 2023 of all EU ports.
More than a fifth of Russian LNG entering Europe is shipped to other parts of the world. This increases Russian revenues, despite the EU’s efforts to limit them, writes the Financial Times.
Transshipment of Russian LNG is prohibited in the UK and the Netherlands, but Russian gas is usually transferred between tankers in Belgium, France and Spain before being exported to buyers on other continents.
The publication emphasizes that this is crucial for Russia as it tries to make the best use of its Arctic fleet.
Transshipment usually takes place between Russian ice-class tankers plying between Yamal and northwestern Europe and conventional LNG tankers, which then proceed to other ports, freeing up ice-class vessels to return north.
Read also: EU countries are again increasing imports of Russian LNG.
According to the publication, the ports of Belgium, Spain and France “still receive significant volumes of gas” from Yamala LNG. In particular, the ports of Zeebrugge in Belgium and Montoire de Bretagne in France received the most Russian LNG in 2023 of all EU ports.
“Of the 17.8 billion cubic meters of Russian liquefied natural gas that arrived in the EU in the period from January to September this year, 21% was transshipped to vessels destined for non-EU countries, in particular, China, Japan and Bangladesh” , – writes FT.
As previously reported by USM, the European Commission is calling to refuse from Russian LNG.
