US "touches the neck" of Indian businesses related to Arctic LNG 2; Russia "faces difficulties" due to sanctions

On September 5, the US Treasury Department announced that it had imposed sanctions on two Indian companies and two vessels involved in Russia's Arctic LNG 2 liquefied natural gas project.

US sanctions Indian company involved in Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project. (Source: TASS)

The two companies targeted are Gotik Shipping Co. and Plio Energy Cargo Shipping OPC Private Limited, both based in India.

The sanctions also affect two Palau-flagged vessels, New Energy and Mulan, due to their links to the above companies.

Previously, in November 2023, the US imposed new sanctions on Russia's Arctic LNG 2, the country's third largest gas project.

The sanctions are intended to limit Moscow's future energy production.

* According to the Financial Times , Russia is starting to store gas from its highly anticipated Arctic project, a sign that Western sanctions are preventing buyers from accessing it.

Three tankers have transferred LNG from the sanctions-hit Arctic LNG 2 project since loading began last month, the Financial Times reported, citing ship tracking data and satellite imagery.

One of them, the Everest Energy, may have unloaded at Saam FSU, a floating storage facility in a bay in the Murmansk region of northern Russia.

The vessel has since returned to Arctic LNG 2.

Cloud-penetrating radar images taken by the European Space Agency's Sentinel-1 satellite show a large ship about the size of Everest Energy preparing to stop near the Saam FSU area.

Meanwhile, the remaining two shipments are still in Russian or European waters, yet to be delivered to the buyer.

The ship's unloading shows "the challenges Russia faces in finding qualified LNG buyers," according to analysts at Kpler.

Arctic LNG 2 is considered a symbolic project by the Kremlin. Its total planned output is expected to account for one-fifth of Russia's annual LNG production target of 100 million tonnes by 2030, or more than three times the volume the country currently exports.

Novatek owns a 60% stake in the project, with TotalEnergies and two Chinese companies, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), each holding 10%.

The remaining 10% belongs to Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co and state-owned Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC).

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/my-so-gay-doanh-nghiep-an-do-lien-quan-den-lng-2-bac-cuc-nga-gap-kho-vi-lenh-trung-phat-285191.html