Report: Russia increased LNG exports to EU in first quarter

Exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia rose by 4.3 percent year on year to 8.7 million tonnes in the first quarter of this year. Deliveries to the European Union increased by four percent over the period, while exports to Asian countries fell by seven percent. Russian newspaper Kommersant reported this today, citing data from analytics company Kpler.

Russia is seeking to increase its seaborne LNG exports to offset the decline in natural gas exports to Europe via pipelines, which resulted from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported.

Russia exported almost five million tonnes of LNG to the European Union in the first quarter, while exports to Asian countries totalled 3.16 million tonnes. In March alone, Russian LNG exports to Asian countries plunged by 30 percent, while deliveries to the EU rose by three percent.

Earlier data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) showed that Russian LNG exports fell by six percent to 31 million tonnes over the whole of last year. The decline was due to scheduled summer maintenance at LNG production plants. According to the data, deliveries to Europe fell by 1.9 percent to 15.8 million tonnes last year, while deliveries to Asia plunged by 11 percent to 14.9 million tonnes.