EuroWire, MOSCOW: Russia’s liquefied natural gas exports rose 8.6% year on year in the first four months of 2026 to 11.4 million metric tons, preliminary shipping data showed, with April shipments alone increasing 13.2% to 2.92 million tons. The increase kept Russian LNG moving into global markets despite sanctions on new export capacity and a tightening European regulatory regime. The figures indicate that LNG, rather than pipeline gas, remains the stronger part of Russia’s current gas export flow.
Shipments to Europe accounted for a large share of the increase. Russia’s LNG exports to Europe rose 20.8% from a year earlier to 6.4 million tons in January through April, while April deliveries to the region climbed to about 1.6 million tons from 1.2 million tons a year earlier. Those gains came even after the European Union adopted a stepwise ban on Russian gas imports, with the first phase beginning to apply in March and existing contracts subject to transition periods.
A key contributor to the export rise was Arctic LNG 2, which supplied about 1 million tons during the January to April period. The project has remained under U.S. sanctions, and restrictions have complicated its commercial activity, including cargo placements. Even so, output from Arctic LNG 2 added new volume to Russia’s export mix in early 2026 and helped offset softer performance at some established facilities, according to the latest shipping data compiled by LSEG.
Russia Expands LNG Supply
Russia’s established LNG plants showed mixed trends over the same period. Novatek’s Yamal LNG plant exported 6.5 million tons in the first four months of 2026, down 1.5% from a year earlier. Sakhalin-2, which is managed by Gazprom, exported 3.7 million tons, up slightly from 3.6 million tons in the same period last year. Together, those two projects remained the core of Russian LNG supply, even as Arctic LNG 2 began contributing measurable volumes to overall exports.
The LNG growth stands in contrast to the weaker performance of Russia’s pipeline gas business in Europe. Gazprom said last week that its pipeline gas exports to Europe fell 44% in 2025, reflecting the loss of transit routes and the continued reduction of Russian fossil fuel purchases by European buyers. TurkStream remains the only active route carrying Russian pipeline gas to Europe, though first quarter flows through that corridor were calculated at roughly 5 billion cubic meters, up about 11% from a year earlier.
European Rules Tighten
The European Union formally adopted its regulation on phasing out imports of Russian pipeline gas and LNG on January 26, and the measure entered into force in early February. The stepwise ban began applying from March 18, while existing supply contracts were given transition periods. Under the rules, EU countries must verify the country of production before authorizing gas imports into the bloc, and member states were also required to prepare national diversification plans as part of the phaseout framework.
For Russia, the latest trade figures show LNG continuing to find buyers even as policy and sanctions constraints narrow its operating environment. Higher exports to Europe, additional cargoes from Arctic LNG 2 and stable volumes from Sakhalin-2 helped lift total LNG shipments in early 2026, while Yamal LNG posted a slight decline and pipeline gas remained far below earlier levels. The data underscores a split in Russia’s gas export profile, with LNG expanding while pipeline deliveries to Europe stay structurally reduced.