Sanctions on Russian gas could cause limited growth in LNG shadow fleet
- Ship-to-ship transfer of LNG is a complex operation and the number of terminals are limited
- Russia has already started rerouting its LNG to the east, while Europe has been pivoting its LNG imports away from Russia
- Lloyd’s List Intelligence data shows at least 15 tankers, 13 of which are sanctioned, have been transferring Russian LNG
Sanctions on Russian LNG by Western regulators have been limited so far, mostly because of Europe’s dependence on these imports. Experts think that an upcoming escalation of sanctions targeting Russian gas will not ultimately lead to a loss of market share as tankers have already started to divert to China
