A gas tanker was spotted near the sanctioned Russian Arctic LNG 2

Russia is trying to expand its LNG exports after the imposition of US sanctions last year.

A Russian LNG carrier docked at Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 facility for the first time since October, Bloomberg reported.

At least 13 vessels, including those capable of navigating icy waters, were reportedly being used to potentially service Arctic LNG 2, according to the publication. Some of them have changed management companies several times to confuse information about their true owners.

Among them is the Iris tanker, one of four Arc4-class tankers currently docked at the Arctic LNG 2 facility, and three others are waiting in the Barents Sea. Two vessels are undergoing repairs in China, and one is near a floating storage facility in Russia’s Far East. Two more are idle in the Gulf of Finland.

According to Igor Tonkovidov, CEO of Sovcomflot, Russia’s first domestically produced ice-class LNG tanker could be put into operation in the second half of this year if it passes the remaining sea trials.

Traders involved in the Arctic LNG 2 project said Russian officials have been trying to sell the gas, holding meetings with potential buyers in India and China over the past year, but it is unclear whether they have found buyers.

At the same time, traders are waiting to see whether the US or the EU will tighten sanctions on the facility once exports resume.

“The time has come to increase pressure on Russia’s energy revenues,” said Jeffrey Pyatt, an honorary fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center and a former assistant US secretary of state who helped draft the sanctions against Arctic LNG 2 during the Biden administration.

As previously reported by USM, a gas tanker was spotted near the sanctioned Russian Arctic LNG 2 last week.