HomeNewsRussia's pipeline gas and LNG exports

Russia's pipeline gas and LNG exports

3/5/2026

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that it could be beneficial for Russia to halt gas supplies to Europe right now amid a spike in energy prices triggered by the Iran crisis, rather than wait for a European ban on remaining purchases.

He pointed to new markets opening up for Russian gas, such as China, and linked any such decision to Europe's "misguided policies".

Following are some key facts about Russian sea-borne liquefied natural gas and pipeline gas exports:

LNG

  • Russia's share of EU imports of LNG decreased to 16% in 2025 from 21% in 2021, according to Eurostat data. Despite the fall, Russia remained the EU's second-largest supplier.
  • The U.S. increased its share of EU LNG imports to 53% by 2025 from 29% in 2021.
  • Russia's total LNG exports fell by 2.5% in 2025 to 31.3 million metric tons, according to LSEG, reflecting the impact of Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine.
  • LNG exports from Russia to the EU last year fell by 16% to 13.8 million tons, LSEG data showed.
  • Supplies from Russia's sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 plant rose to 1.2 million tons in 2025, the data showed, from just 200,000 tons in 2024. All the cargoes from the plant sailed to China.
  • Last year China received 22 shipments of LNG from two export projects in Russia sanctioned by the U.S. and EU.
  • Faced with the Western sanctions, Russia has pushed back by "several years" a plan to reach an annual LNG output target of 100 million metric tons.

PIPELINE GAS

  • Russia's pipeline gas now flows to Europe only via one route, TurkStream, on the bed of the Black Sea to Turkey.
  • Russia's pipeline gas exports to Europe sank by 44% in 2025 to their lowest since the mid-1970s, following the closure of a major transit route via Ukraine and as the EU phases out fossil fuel imports from Russia.
  • Exports via TurkStream to Europe increased by around 7% last year from 16.8 bcm in 2024, according to calculations based on European gas pipeline operators.
  • The main buyers of the gas via the route are Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia.
  • Gazprom's exports to Turkey are around 20 bcm per year.
  • Russia is striving to raise pipeline gas supplies to China. Its exports via the Power of Siberia 1 pipeline, the only gas pipeline from Russia to China so far, rose last year by around a quarter to 38.8 bcm, more than to the EU for the first time.

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