Despite sanctions against Russia and strong commitments to reduce dependence on Russian energy, the European Union (EU) will still buy more than 50% of Moscow's total liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports in 2024, RT reported.
Russia exported a record 33.6 million tonnes of LNG last year, with 17.4 million tonnes (52%) going to the EU market, according to data from analytics firm Kpler.
Compared to 2023, Russia's total LNG exports increased by 4%, from 32.9 million tons to 33.6 million tons. In particular, December 2024 marked strong growth with 3.25 million tons of LNG exported, an increase of nearly 14% compared to the previous month.
Yamal LNG continued to be the main source of supply, contributing 21.1 million tonnes – up 6% year-on-year. Meanwhile, exports from the Sakhalin-2 project fell 3.1% to 9.9 million tonnes. Mid-sized plants in Vysotsk such as Gazprom LNG Portovaya and Kriogaz-Vysotsk also recorded a 3.4% increase, reaching 2.31 million tonnes.
186,000 tonnes of LNG were shipped from the port of Utrenny under the Arctic LNG 2 project. Another 135,000 tonnes came from unspecified ports.
Despite the EU announcing a series of measures to reduce its dependence on Russian energy, including a ban on LNG transit and re-exports effective from June 2024, imports from Moscow are still expected to increase by 4% compared to 2023.
The biggest buyers of Russian LNG in the EU include France, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands, showing that despite political pressure, the need for cheap LNG from Russia still dominates European energy decisions.
Not only the EU, Asian markets also increased purchases of Russian LNG. China topped the region with 7 million tons, followed by Japan (5.7 million tons). Türkiye and Kuwait also increased imports, with Kuwait tripling to 220,000 tons.
In addition, 336,000 tonnes of Russian LNG were shipped to unspecified destinations.
Looking ahead, Russia is expected to continue to dominate the LNG markets in both Europe and Asia. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak said in December that LNG exports would reach around 33 million tonnes by the end of 2024, confirming that Moscow remains a key player in the global LNG market.
"We have many large projects underway, with new plants under construction. Russian LNG continues to be supplied to both Europe and Asia," Novak stressed.
Data from Kpler once again raises questions about the EU's ability to truly "detox" from Russian energy, when in fact the region is still consuming Russian LNG at record levels.
