MOSCOW: Russia has postponed by “several years” its plan to achieve an annual liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacity of 100 million tonnes, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday, citing the impact of Western sanctions on the country’s energy sector.
Speaking to state broadcaster Rossiya-24, Novak said sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine—particularly those targeting new projects such as Arctic LNG 2—have disrupted Russia’s long-term ambitions. Moscow had aimed to secure around 20 per cent of the global LNG market by 2030–2035, up from about 8 per cent currently.
An updated government energy strategy now projects LNG output of 90–105 million tonnes by 2030 and 110–130 million tonnes by 2036. “Our goal was to reach 100 million tonnes. It is clear that, due to sanctions-related restrictions, this will now be pushed back by several years,” Novak said, without providing further details.
Novak added that Russia’s oil and gas condensate production in 2025 is expected to remain broadly unchanged from 2024 at around 516 million tonnes, or about 10.32 million barrels per day—an improvement on an earlier forecast of a 1 per cent decline.
Russia’s LNG production increased by 5.4 per cent in 2024 to 34.7 million tonnes, slightly below expectations. Meanwhile, the European Union plans to ban Russian LNG imports from January 1, 2027, amid intensifying competition from the United States and Qatar in global LNG markets.
By Reuters
