China's Beihai port receives Russia-linked LNG vessel from sanctioned Portovaya facility: CAS

China's port of Beihai has received an LNG tanker from Gazprom's sanctioned Portovaya LNG project, the first such tanker to journey from the export facility in western Russia's Leningrad Oblast since deliveries of sanctioned Russian cargoes started this summer, according to data from S&P Global's Commodities at Sea.

The Valera arrived at the Tieshan terminal at the Port of Beihai in southern China's Guangxi region at 0449 GMT on Dec. 8, with a draft of 11.1 meters.

The tanker departed the region around the Portovyy floating storage unit, which services the Gazprom project, in late October, CAS data showed. It then voyaged for nearly six weeks, travelling around the Cape of Good Hope to the Beihai terminal.

Up until now all sanctioned Russian LNG arriving at the Chinese terminal had originated from Novatek's Arctic LNG 2 project, with the first coming in late August.

The vessel is the 20th Russia-linked LNG tanker to call at Beihai since the sanctioned flows started, as well as the 11th such ship to voyage to the site since the UK announced sanctions on the terminal on Oct. 15.

The Northern Sea Route is expected to close for all but Arc7-class LNG carriers, effectively limiting Russia's ability to maintain earlier export levels from Arctic LNG 2 through the winter months.

Only the Christophe de Margerie, an Arc7-class ship, is expected to continue transiting the route, with other conventional tankers unable to navigate the increasingly harsh ice conditions.

Sanctions

The US State Department sanctioned the Portovaya export facility in January.

Since the start of 2025, the project has exported roughly 520,000 mt (717 million cu m) of LNG, with most of the volumes since January -- some 350,000 mt --going to the Russian Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, according to data from S&P Global Energy CERA. This is down significantly from the nearly 1.6 million mt exported in 2024, before the US sanctions, when the EU and Turkey were major offtakers.

Portovaya LNG has a nameplate capacity of 1.5 million mt/year. It began exporting LNG in September 2022.

The UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office blacklisted the Beihai LNG terminal and seven tankers involved in Russian LNG transit as part of a wave of sanctions in October.

Shortly after, the EU confirmed a ban on all imports of Russian LNG starting in 2027 as part of its 19th sanctions package.

EU legislators said Dec. 3 they had reached a provisional agreement on a broader legislative ban on all Russian LNG from Jan. 1, 2027 -- in line with the sanctions -- and all Russian pipeline gas by Nov. 1, 2027. The deal still requires a vote from the full European Parliament and Council.

The EU legislation would be more durable than the sanctions, which have to be renewed by a unanimous Council vote every six months.

The UK also plans to ban maritime services, such as insurance, for Russian LNG transit to third countries in 2026, the FCDO said Nov. 12, as it aims to cut off the use of UK-linked ships and services to help move Russian LNG.

"This action will significantly reduce Russian exports of LNG and directly cut off access to the UK's world-leading maritime services," the government office said. "The ban will be phased in over 2026 in lockstep with our European partners."