LNG exports from Russia rose 35% in September compared to last year

At the end of September, the total volumes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from Russia increased by more than a third compared to the same period in 2025. Kommersant reports a sharp increase in shipments of one of the key types of domestic fuel, citing Kpler data.

In the first month of autumn, Russian exporters sent a total of 3.36 million tons of LNG to foreign markets. The annual increase was 35 percent.

The overwhelming majority of exports went to the Asia-Pacific region (APR). Of the total volume, 2.12 million tons were sent to China, Japan and South Korea. Russian energy companies shipped only 0.72 million tons of LNG to Europe.

In general, in the first nine months of 2026, domestic exporters shipped 25.35 million tons of this type of fuel to foreign markets. The achieved result was 14 percent more than a year earlier.

Senior manager of the Implementa company Ivan Timonin linked the sharp increase in supplies of liquefied natural gas from Russia in early autumn primarily with the restoration of shipments from the Yamal LNG plant after planned repairs in August.

In the foreseeable future, Russia will have fewer opportunities to increase LNG exports, experts agree. Currently, domestic capacities include the Yamal LNG plants with a design capacity of 16.5 million tons and the first line of Arctic LNG-2 (both enterprises are controlled by NOVATEK), Sakhalin-2 of Gazprom for 9.6 million tons, Cryogaz-Vysotsk of NOVATEK for 660 thousand tons and Port LNG of Gazprom for 1.5 million tons per year.