Russian LNG returns to China. The first cargo from Jamal left Murmansk since November

With the melting of ice, Russia again attempts to launch the Arctic direction of LNG exports to China. Voyage gas tanker Geneva from Murmanska to Rudong port is the first such signal since November last year and shows that Moscow wants to reuse the seasonal shipping window on the route to Asia.

Winter break is over

After a few months of interruption, Russian LNG from the project Jamał heads back to the Chinese market. However, this was not an accidental break. To a large extent, it was due to winter restrictions on Arctic shipping, which have been hampering regular shipments of LNG from Jamaica to Asia beyond the summer and autumn season. Reuters reminded recently that transports to Asia using specialized Arc7-class gas turbines are usually viable primarily from July to November, and in the winter Russia must reach for more expensive and longer logistics variants.

According to market data, a gas tanker came out of Murmansk on 6 April Genevato reach the Chinese port of Rudong around 15 May. This is the first transport of Jamal LNG to China since November last year. The same voyage does not yet determine the permanent return of regular deliveries, but clearly shows that with the melting of ice Russia is again attempting to open to Asian direction. 

Murmansk plays an important role again

The cargo did not leave the Jamał LNG terminal on the Jamaican Peninsula, but after transshipment in the Murmansk region. It was there that Russia resumed ship-to-ship operations this year in order to make better use of the limited fleet of ice-class gas carriers and relieve the most expensive vessels adapted to navigation in the Arctic.

In practice, this means that Murmansk again becomes an important logistical base for Russian LNG exports from the Arctic. This solution does not solve all the problems, but gives Moscow more flexibility when the number of specialised units remains limited and the year-round targeting of large LNG volumes to Asia would still be very costly.

The Arctic still imposes its conditions

That's the point. The Jamał LNG project has been based from the beginning on logistics adapted to the realities of the Arctic. Arc7-class gas tankers are adapted for navigation in the Arctic, but their number remains limited and out of season exports to Asia become logistically much more difficult. In winter, therefore, Russian LNG is more frequent in other markets or requires more complex delivery arrangements.

The previous transport to China, sent in November, arrived only after a long cruise around Africa. This shows the scale of the problem. When Arctic The window closes, Russia does not completely lose export opportunities, but it loses the simple and seasonally most advantageous trail to Asia. Present voyage Geneva should therefore be read not only as a simple commercial movement, but also as a signal that this window is starting to slip again.

Europe is closing, so Moscow is looking at the East

This does not mean, of course, that the problem is only about ice. At the same time, there is a process of pushing Russian gas out of the European market. EU rules provide for the gradual extinction of Russian gas imports, with a full ban on Russian LNG imports to apply from 1 January 2027 and for pipelined gas later in the fall of 2027.

From the perspective of the Kremlin, this means strengthening the Asian direction. China remains a natural partner here because it has a great demand and is also ready to buy Russian raw materials on conditions much less politically charged than Europe. That is why any return of Jamalese LNG to China today is more important than it was a few years ago. This is not only an element of trade, but also part of a wider redevelopment of Russian export geography.

LNG jamal remains a strategic project for Russia

For years, LNG was one of the most important projects of the Russian gas sector. For a long time, it was conceived as a source of supply for both Europe and Asian customers. Today, however, the burden of this project is increasingly shifting to the East. Not because Russia has completely solved logistics or fleet problems, but because the European export path is becoming narrower for it.

However, this is not a simple success story. Russia still faces transport restrictions, high transport costs and sanctions. Reuters pointed out that a full redirection of more exports from Europe to Asia would require much more ships and much more extensive logistics than Russia has at its disposal today.

Gaseous pass Geneva It's an important signal, but not a breakthrough.

The very fact that the gas tanker has exited Geneva to Rudong does not yet mean rebuilding a regular, year-round supply route from Jamaica to China. This would be too far-reaching a simplification. This one. voyage shows that a winter break in the arctic direction of supply is coming to an end. Russia is again trying to direct LNG to China, using melting ice and transhipment facilities in Murmansk.

If further similar exits of Russian gas companies occur in the following weeks, this will mean that Moscow is actually returning to seasonal LNG exports to Asia through the North Sea Road. Then it will not be a single transport, but a clear signal that Russia is attempting to rebuild this direction of supply again.