Buyers fail to curb Russian LNG imports: press

Global reluctance to pick up additional Russian LNG spot cargoes this month has had almost no effect on overall gas quantities picked up from Russian suppliers, Bloomberg reported March 31.

Russian LNG exports in March effectively remained static from February, and actually rose 10% year/year, Bloomberg said. Russia is set to be the world's fourth largest gas exporter this month, according to the data.

Data suggests Japan bought the most Russian LNG in March, despite Japanese utilities having scaled back on spot purchases over Moscow's actions on Ukraine. In second place was France, where TotalEnergies' continued involvement in Russia has generated significant controversy.

Western sanctions have not directly been applied to natural gas, and importers have continued to take LNG batches from Russian long-term contracts because tightening gas markets mean prices could be higher elsewhere, and sourcing alternative LNG could be challenging.

Bloomberg's report underscored the task facing global governments hoping to reduce Russia's influence in gas markets. US president Joe Biden announced his government would ban Russian fossil fuel imports on March 8, while the UK is phasing out Russian oil and the EU hopes to cut gas imports by two-thirds over the next 12 months.

No Russian LNG was delivering to the UK in March, Bloomberg said, and the government banned ports from providing access to Russian ships. Even where vessels hold non-Russian official registrations, the supplier has voluntarily elected to avoid the UK in light of the government's stance.