Russia's exports of liquefied natural gas rose 5.8 per cent in the first two months of 2026 from a year earlier to 5.5 million tonnes, preliminary LSEG data showed on Monday.
Russian LNG exports have been held back by US sanctions over Ukraine, notably against the Arctic LNG 2 plant, whose operations have been hampered by the difficulty of finding buyers for its output.
Supplies from Arctic LNG 2 amounted to 510,000 tonnes in January and February.
In February alone, total LNG exports from Russia dropped by 7.3 per cent from January to 2.67 million tonnes. The data also showed Russian LNG exports to Europe in the first two months of the year rose seven per cent year-on-year to three million tonnes.
In January, European Union countries gave their final approval to ban Russian gas imports by late 2027.
Novatek's Yamal LNG plant reduced total exports in January-February by three per cent year-on-year to 3.1 million tonnes. All the tankers from the plant have been dispatched to Europe so far this year, according to the preliminary information.
Asia-oriented Sakhalin-2, controlled by Gazprom, exported 1.8 million tonnes in the first two months of the year, on par with the same period in 2025.
(Reporting by Reuters, editing by Andrei Khalip)
