A shipment of liquefied natural gas originating from Russia’s Portovaya facility, which is subject to US sanctions, is en route to India as per LSEG maritime data reported on Wednesday. This potential delivery marks the first such instance of LNG transport to India since US President Donald Trump mentioned that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given assurances of halting Russian energy purchases.
India has not publicly affirmed any such commitment and emphasizes that its procurement choices are influenced by factors like pricing, supply reliability, and consumer needs. As a major global energy importer, India faces significant exposure to supply disruptions and price fluctuations stemming from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the resulting closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Portovaya facility, a smaller-scale LNG plant with an annual production capacity of 1.5 million tons, commenced operations in September 2022. Sanctions imposed in January 2025 due to the Ukraine conflict have disrupted exports from the plant, aiming to hinder Russia’s LNG production and export capabilities while reducing its trade revenues.
Russia has previously supplied LNG to China’s Beihai port from Portovaya and its Arctic LNG 2 plant despite facing sanctions. Recent data from LSEG indicates that Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, has delivered a second post-sanctions LNG cargo from Portovaya to China. If India proceeds with purchasing Russian LNG, it would create an additional market opportunity as President Vladimir Putin looks to divert LNG away from Europe before the EU’s planned import ban on Russian LNG starting in 2027.
A tanker named Kunpeng, with a capacity of 138,200 cubic meters, is en route to the Dahej LNG import terminal in western India, according to LSEG data. Martin Senior, head of LNG pricing at Argus, a respected industry publication, noted that this potential delivery to India would represent a new market for US-sanctioned Russian LNG, with previous shipments exclusively directed to China’s Beihai.
Before the sanctions, the Portovaya facility typically dispatched an average of two cargoes monthly during winter. However, since March 2025, apart from the shipments to China, the plant has been sending one cargo monthly to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad in the west.
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