From January to October 2025, liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the Russian Federation decreased by 3.4% year-on-year, reaching 25.2 million tons. However, in October, supply volumes sharply increased by 21%, reaching a record high of 3.4 million tons. The primary reason for this surge was the emergence of new shipments from the Arctic LNG 2 project, which is under international sanctions.
This is reported by Finway
Changes in Export Geography and the Impact of Sanctions
U.S. sanctions have restricted Russian LNG access to global markets; however, Russia is actively redirecting exports to Asian countries, particularly to China. Shipments to the European Union over the first ten months of this year fell by 17.9% to 11 million tons, and in October, they dropped further by 21% to 0.79 million tons.
U.S. sanctions have restricted Russian LNG access to global markets, but Russia has increased shipments to Asia, particularly to China.
At the same time, in October, Russian oil product exports by sea fell to their lowest level since the beginning of the full-scale war. The average daily export was 1.89 million barrels, the lowest figure since January 2022. This trend was influenced by widespread shutdowns of refineries due to attacks by Ukrainian drones and increased sanctions pressure.
India and Lithuania: New Decisions and Prospects
India’s largest oil refining company, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), is returning to purchases of Russian oil in December, having acquired five batches from suppliers that are not currently under sanctions. IOC purchased about 3.5 million barrels of ESPO crude oil for delivery to the eastern port of the country throughout December.
Another Indian refinery, Nayara Energy, which is controlled by Russia and operates exclusively on Russian raw materials, managed to increase its loading level from 70-80% to 90-93% of its maximum capacity of 400,000 barrels per day after the implementation of EU sanctions.
Meanwhile, the Lithuanian company “Lithuanian Railways” (LTG), which had been involved in the transit of Lukoil oil products to the Kaliningrad region, announced the cessation of such transportation in compliance with U.S. and UK sanctions.
At the same time, energy companies from Lithuania and Russia – Amber Grid and Gazprom – are negotiating the extension of the transit contract for gas supplies to Kaliningrad. The current agreement expires in December, and the parties are considering the possibility of shortening the term of the new contract and increasing the transit tariff. Lithuania’s annual revenue from gas transit to Kaliningrad is about €12 million. Meanwhile, Lithuania halted its own imports of Russian gas, apart from transit, back in April 2022.