French imports of Russia's liquified natural gas surge, and Ukraine supporters seek a stop

Shipments of Russian liquified natural gas to France more than doubled the first half of this year, according to new analyses of trade data, at a time when Europe has tried to pull back from energy purchases that help finance the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.

Europe has restricted oil imports from Russia, but natural gas is still allowed. And while companies in France are importing the most, one analysis found EU countries overall imported 7% more Russian LNG, natural gas that has been chilled and liquified for easier ocean transport, in the first half of this year compared to the same period a year ago.

Oleh Savytskyi, a founder of nonprofit Razom We Stand, which campaigns for tougher sanctions on Russian fossil fuels, said the EU’s goal of phasing out all Russian fossil fuels by 2027 was “appallingly off track.” He said countries buying Russian LNG are sabotaging the continent’s energy transition and contributing billions to Russia’s war effort.

European governments have said banning Russian gas imports entirely would send energy and heating bills skyrocketing and industrial users of gas would suffer, too.

The analysis first came from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a U.S. nonprofit with a goal of speeding the world’s transition to more sustainable energy. IEEFA examined data from Kpler, a shipping tracker, and ICIS, a commodity data provider, both of which also provided their own analysis.

The institute said French companies imported almost 4.4 billion cubic meters of Russian LNG in the first half of this year, compared to more than 2 billion cubic meters in the same period a year ago. The next biggest importers, Spain and Belgium, saw a 1% rise and a 16% decline respectively, IEEFA said.

TotalEnergies, the French energy giant that accounted for the largest share of the imports in a list of cargoes between January and June seen by The Associated Press, said it was bound by contracts signed before Russia's Ukraine invasion. And France's Finance and Economy Ministry told the AP that Houthi rebel attacks on ships moving through the Suez Canal have forced a reshaping of LNG imports — gas from the Middle East can no longer get easily to Europe, while Russia's route from the Arctic has been unaffected.

The ministry noted that France is one of Europe's main entry points for LNG. France and Spain, with seven each, have the most LNG terminals in Europe.

At the same time France was importing more Russian LNG, it was importing less from other suppliers including the United States, Angola, Cameroon, Egypt and Nigeria — an amount approaching the jump in Russian LNG, according to the analysis. None of those other countries' LNG exports were affected by the Red Sea attacks.

Pricing data for Russian LNG isn't public. But it typically sells for a small discount because some buyers don't want it, said Jason Feer, global head of business intelligence at energy consultants Poten and Partners.

The extra gas isn’t being used by French homes or industry. Demand in France fell 9% in the first half of this year compared to last year. Meanwhile, France’s export of gas by pipeline to Belgium rose almost 10% in the first six months, according to Kpler. It’s not possible to tell how much of that export was Russian LNG.

“What that tells you is people are making money off this trade,” said Feer.

Russia’s biggest LNG project is in the Arctic Circle’s Yamal Peninsula, a joint venture with TotalEnergies, which owns 20%. Under a contract signed in 2018, TotalEnergies is committed to buying 4 million tons of gas from there annually.

TotalEnergies said by email that it was legally bound to honor its contracts and will do so “as long as Europeans governments deem Russian gas necessary for the European Union’s security of supply.”

Only if new sanctions were imposed could the purchases be suspended, it said. TotalEnergies said its imports of Russian LNG into Europe had actually fallen over the period studied.

An EU Commission spokesman said imports of Russian gas fell considerably between 2021 and 2023.

A temporary volume increase “does not put into question the EU achievements over the past two years,” spokesman Adalbert Jahnz said. “We have diversified our imports and the bulk of the necessary gas is supplied by reliable partners, such as Norway and the US.”

But Razom We Stand’s Savytskyi called for the EU to implement a full embargo on the commodity. TotalEnergies “should not have a free pass to keep Europe hooked on Russian gas,” he said.

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