Russia Opens New Production Line at Sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 as First Carrier Loads Cargo

Russia continues to expand its Arctic liquefied natural gas facilities. More than a year after towing the second production line to the Gydan Peninsula a gas carrier berthed at Train 2 of the Arctic LNG 2 project for the first time.

Ice-class LNG carrier Christophe de Margerie, originally built for the neighboring Yamal LNG project, called at the Utrenniy terminal on September 22. Satellite images confirm it berthed alongside Train 2. 

The loading signals that Novatek, the plant’s majority owner, has overcome initial startup problems resulting in part from the need to replace original gas turbines with an electric drive due to supplier sanctions. 

The startup of the second train comes just weeks after Moscow, for the first time, found a buyer for sanctioned LNG cargoes from the plant. For more than a year up to a million tons of supercooled gas remained afloat in the absence of buyers willing to defy U.S. sanctions. 

In late August LNG carrier Arctic Mulan made the first delivery to PipeChina’s Beihai terminal. Five additional offloadings have followed in quick succession, with several more vessels en route.

The Trump Administration has been markedly silent about this ongoing breach of sanctions. It is noteworthy that several vessels carrying sanctioned LNG started moving toward China as the Trump-Puting Anchorage summit was unfolding. 

China’s acceptance of LNG from the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project sends a clear political message by signaling a deepening of the country’s energy ties with Russia. It also tests the U.S.’ enforcement capabilities. 

“The failure to enforce even existing sanctions against Russia and apparent willingness to give China a free pass to buy Russian energy fundamentally undercuts efforts to bring about an end to the war and to impact the Kremlin’s calculus in negotiations,” a number of democratic senators wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week. 

The Trump White House has not announced any new sanctions targeting Russia’s LNG sector since coming into office in January. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has been drafting legislation, the SHADOW Fleet Act, aiming to impose sanctions on Russian energy exports, including liquefied natural gas (LNG). The bill’s prospects are uncertain, especially without clear direction from the White House. 

Despite the successful startup of Train 2, challenges remain for Russia’s flagship LNG project. Both production lines are reportedly only running at half capacity, bringing the plant’s maximum production to around 6.6 mtpa. Construction of a third train has been mothballed. 

A shortage of ice-capable gas carriers will almost certainly force Novatek to shutter the plant or at a minimum scale down production significantly as winter sea ice returns.

It currently has only a single Arc7 ice-class vessel, Christophe de Margerie, at its disposal. A second one, Aleksey Kosygin, remains in drydock at a Russian shipyard in the Far East though it may be readied before winter. With two Arc7 carriers Novatek would likely be able to conduct a weekly loading at Arctic LNG 2, equating to a production of around 3.5 mtpa.

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