Russia In Crisis, New LNG Project in Arctic Delayed Due to U.S. Sanctions

Mitsui OSK Lines cannot deliver ice-breaker ships to Russia’s new LNG export project in the Arctic due to US sanctions.

The US imposed additional sanctions in November in reaction to Russia’s war effort and other unlawful activities.

Sanctions on the Arctic LNG 2 Project of the largest Russian LNG exporter, Novatek, have impacted plans for production start-up & export timelines.

This has led some projects' shareholders, like France’s TotalEnergies, to declare force majeure on future deliveries.

Novatek has a 60% stake, and other shareholders are CNOOC of China, CNPC, TotalEnergies, Mitsui Group, and Jogmec.

Mitsui OSK Lines is working with the U.S. and Japanese governments to find a solution to the ship delivery issue.

Potential contract cancellations & US Sanctions might hamper Russia’s plans to boost LNG sales, given its pipeline route to Europe is largely cut off.