* If delivery arrives, would be first LNG under sanctions
to arrive in India
* Trump said India had pledged to stop buying Russian
energy
* India has not confirmed that
LONDON, April 15 (Reuters) – A cargo of liquefied
natural gas from Russia’s Portovaya plant on the Baltic Sea that
is under U.S. sanctions is on its way to India, LSEG shipping
data showed on Wednesday.
If it reaches its destination, it would be the first such
delivery to India since U.S. President Donald Trump last year
said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him India would
stop buying Russian energy.
India has never publicly confirmed any such pledge and has
said its buying decisions are guided by price, supply security
and consumer interests. As one of the world’s biggest energy
importers, it is now greatly exposed to the disruption and price
rises caused by the Middle Eastern war and the resulting closure
of the Strait of Hormuz.
The small-scale Portovaya plant, which has a production
capacity of 1.5 million tons of LNG per year, started operations
in September 2022.
Exports from the plant have been interrupted by additional
sanctions over the Ukraine war that were imposed in January 2025
to disrupt Russia’s ability to produce and export LNG and reduce
its revenue from the trade.
ANOTHER MARKET IN ADDITION TO CHINA?
So far Russia has supplied LNG under sanctions to China’s
port of Beihai from Portovaya and also from its Arctic LNG 2
plant.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian energy giant Gazprom
delivered a second post-sanctions LNG cargo from Portovaya plant
to China, LSEG data showed.
If India is buying Russian LNG, that would provide another
market as Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to divert LNG
from Europe before the European Union enforces its import ban on
Russia’s LNG from 2027.
Kunpeng, a 138,200 cubic metre tanker, is heading to Dahej
LNG import terminal in western India, according to LSEG data.
“The cargo, if delivered, would open up a second market for
U.S.-sanctioned Russian LNG, with all previous deliveries from
sanctioned Russian terminals delivering to China’s Beihai,” said
Martin Senior, head of LNG pricing at industry publication
Argus.
Before the sanctions, Portovaya shipped two cargoes a month
on average during winter. Since March 2025, apart from the two
shipments to China, it has been sending one cargo per month to
the Russian western exclave of Kaliningrad.
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